Venu Srinivasan challenges Noel Tata’s chairmanship of Tata Trusts, seeks scrutiny of perpetual trustee status

Tata boardroom tussle: A fresh battle front has opened up at the the Tata Group, with Venu Srinivasan, the joint nominee director of the Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board, questioning how Noel Tata can continue as chairman of Tata Trusts while also being involved in the affairs of Tata Sons, the group’s principal operating holding company.

In a letter to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner, Srinivasan is learnt to have questioned the appointment and continued status of Noel Tata as a perpetual trustee, the basis of his chairmanship of Tata Trusts and the appointment of his son Neville Tata as a trustee, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times.

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Srinivasan, who voted against the Trusts’ direction at a recent crucial board meeting of Tata Sons, has also raised concerns over his own exclusion from certain decision-making processes and what he describes as the increasing involvement of Tata Trusts and its trustees in the strategic and commercial affairs of Tata Sons.

According to Srinivasan, Tata Trusts has been increasingly involved in Tata Sons’ business decisions, including a “direct role in identifying, negotiating and seeking implementation of substantial commercial transactions concerning Tata Sons”. He argued that such involvement was inconsistent with SDTT’s charitable objective.

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NOEL vs VENU: BONE OF CONTENTION 

The differences between Venu Srinivasan and Noel Tata – with the letter to the MCC – have come to a head. The two sides already have starkly different opinions on the listing of Tata Sons. Not only the listing of Tata Sons, Venu and Noel have gone head-to-head on the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons Chairman also.

In fact, as per reports, Tata Trusts had earlier attempted to restrain Srinivasan from participating in or voting on matters in the Tata Sons board. SDTT had noted that Srinivasan’s support for the listing of Tata Sons was incompatible with its position, and hence he had to be disabled from representing the Trusts’ interests.

Srinivasan subsequently pushed back and rejected the attempt to restrict his participation.

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Noel Tata has been vocal about his difference in opinion when it comes to the listing. More recently, he told Republic TV in an interview, “Yesterday, we sent a proposal or a solution… a possible solution to Tata Sons which, in our view, fits within the existing guidelines of the Reserve Bank. We would like Tata Sons to review it and, if necessary, modify it and engage with the RBI, as we believe that this is a solution which would enable us to avoid listing.”

He said he hoped for the RBI and Tata Trusts to find some common ground and a solution that would prevent the listing. “It really is a solution. It’s not rocket science. It’s a solution that takes us back to our roots,” he said.