Veteran industrialist Venu Srinivasan’s resignation from a Tata charitable institution highlights internal disputes and questions surrounding trustee eligibility within the prominent Tata Trusts.
IMAGE: Venu Srinivasan. Photograph: ANI Photo
Key Points
- Venu Srinivasan, a trustee on Tata Trusts, has resigned from the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution.
- The resignation follows a challenge from former trustee Mehli Mistry regarding Srinivasan’s eligibility based on the trust deed’s criteria.
- Mistry questioned whether Srinivasan met the requirements of practicing the Parsi Zoroastrian faith and residency in Mumbai.
- Infighting among Tata Trusts trustees previously reached the government, prompting intervention to resolve the disputes amicably.
- The government urged the Tata Trusts to resolve their differences privately due to the Tata Group’s significant impact on India’s economy.
Veteran industrialist Venu Srinivasan, a trustee on Tata Trusts, has resigned from the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, according to sources.
Although he cited other business commitments for his resignation from one of the smaller trusts in the Tata Trusts, the development followed a challenge from Mehli Mistry, a former trustee of the Tata Trusts.
Comments from Srinivasan and Tata Trusts could not be obtained immediately.
Challenge to Appointment
Mistry had challenged the appointments of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh to the board of Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution in a complaint to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner.
He claimed that Srinivasan and Singh do not satisfy the criteria laid out in the trust deed.
Among Mistry’s main contention was the specific conditions mandated in the deed that includes practice of the Parsi Zoroastrian faith and residency requirements in Mumbai.
Government Intervention
Last year, Tata Trusts was rocked by infighting among trustees. The matter reached the government, with the top brass of the Tata group, including Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Subsequently, the government told the trusts to resolve the issue amicably and not let their differences spill into the public, considering the significance of the Tata Group on India’s economy.
