Charity Commissioner seeks response from Tata Trusts over Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh’s complaints

The Maharashtra Charity Commissioner has reportedly asked the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), the largest shareholder of Tata Sons, to respond to complaints filed by its trustees Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh. The trustees have raised concerns over the trust's management and called for an investigation.

According to a report in Livemint that cited an executive familiar with the matter, in a letter sent to SDTT on Monday, along with copies of the complaints, the Charity Commissioner gave the trust until October 12 to respond.

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Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of TVS Motor Co, and Singh, a former defence secretary, filed their complaints on September 25. They alleged direct involvement of SDTT in the commercial affairs of Tata Sons and risk to the charitable status of the trust. They also raised concerns over interference with independent decision-making by nominee directors.

Srinivasan has urged the Charity Commissioner to take action against any wrongdoing found during an investigation, including suspending or removing SDTT chairman Noel Tata, as mentioned in the report.

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The development comes amid a wider dispute over the future of Tata Sons, with a potential public listing emerging as a key point of contention. On September 17, Noel Tata opposed the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman for a third term, while the rest of the board backed continuity under Chandrasekaran, citing the need for a public listing.

SDTT, which owns 27.98 per cent of Tata Sons, dismissed the concerns in a letter dated October 5. Noel Tata said it was difficult to reconcile the trustees' demand for collective deliberation with their complaints to the Charity Commissioner five days earlier, in which they had sought an order preventing SDTT from convening or acting through meetings or circular resolutions, as mentioned in the report.

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According to an executive, Neville Noel Tata, former Titan CEO Bhaskar Bhat and lawyer Darius Khambata also signed the letter. The four trustees said the complaints also sought restrictions on Noel representing SDTT at Tata Sons general meetings and voting on certain board matters, as well as a freeze on SDTT's board composition. They said they hoped Srinivasan and Singh would withdraw their complaints.

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