Srinivasan and Singh, both vice-chairmen and trustees of SDTT, have raised questions about the trust’s administration and its involvement in the commercial and strategic affairs of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.
The complaint highlights concerns over Noel Tata’s appointment and status as a perpetual trustee, the basis of his chairmanship of Tata Trusts, the appointment of Neville Tata, and Srinivasan’s alleged exclusion from decision-making processes.
SDTT and Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) together hold a 51.54% stake in Tata Sons, while Tata Trusts collectively own about 66% of the holding company.
In a representation to the regulator, Srinivasan questioned the increasing involvement of charitable trusts in Tata Sons’ business decisions, as per the report. He referred to Tata Trusts’ statement on September 17 about exploring alternatives to listing Tata Sons and Noel Tata’s proposal to provide liquidity to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which holds more than 18% in the unlisted company.
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Srinivasan and Singh also objected to a September 28 letter sent to the Tata Sons board proposing a reorganisation involving the merger of Tata Electronics Systems Solutions and Tata Consulting Engineers into Tata Sons. They said in a September 30 letter that no SDTT trustee meeting had been held to discuss the proposal before it was communicated.
Srinivasan argued that such involvement in commercial transactions could conflict with SDTT’s charitable objectives and put its tax-exempt status and charitable corpus at risk.
Separately, seven Tata Trusts, excluding SDTT, have filed 84 caveats before the Charity Commissioner to ensure they are heard before orders are passed in matters concerning the trusts. Noel Tata and Neville Tata were named in these filings.
The dispute follows restrictions imposed by the Charity Commissioner on SRTT in May, preventing it from holding meetings until the restraint is lifted.