Tata Group Crisis Deepens: Vijay Singh, Venu Srinivasan Raise Governance Questions

A major governance battle is unfolding inside the 134-year-old Tata Trusts, the controlling shareholder of Tata Sons. After the controversial September 17 Tata Sons board meeting, the dispute has now reached the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner. Tata Sons Director and Tata trustee Venu Srinivasan has sought an inquiry into alleged governance lapses at Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, raising questions over trustee appointments, decision-making and SDTT’s involvement in Tata Sons. A day later, another Tata trustee Vijay Singh also raised concerns about SDTT’s involvement in Tata Sons’ commercial and strategic affairs. Meanwhile, SDTT has filed a caveat seeking to be heard before any order is passed. The controversy comes as a newspaper reported business connections involving a company owned by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran’s family and TVS Motor, whose chairman emeritus is Venu Srinivasan. Tata Sons maintains that the transactions did not require disclosure to or approval from its board.