Sir Dorabji Tata Trust files reply to Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh complaints

MUMBAI: Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) on Monday filed a reply with the Charity Commissioner's office to complaints made by its trustees Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh.

Srinivasan, an industrialist, and former defence secretary Singh approached the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner with complaints, alleging irregularities in trustees' appointment and obstructing nominee directors from making independent decisions.

People in the know confirmed the filing of the reply late Monday evening, but the content could not be immediately ascertained.


The separate complaints by Srinivasan and Singh amid a protracted battle within the Tata group had named SDTT's chairman Noel Tata and his son Neville, who is the vice chairman.

SDTT owns nearly 24 per cent stake in Tata Sons, which makes it the largest owner among the shareholders in the holding company of the country's largest conglomerate.

The Charity Commissioner initially gave SDTT time till October 12 to file its say in the matter, and later extended it to October 19.

According to reports, the complaints mention why Noel has been appointed as a perpetual trustee on SDTT, and also raise issues over governance at the trust, alleging that it gets involved in the commercial decisions of Tata Sons.

It can be recalled that after approaching the Charity Commissioner, Srinivasan and Singh also wrote to other trustees of SDTT and the ones helming Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), a sister trust and part of Tata Trusts.

Both specifically claimed that they were excluded from decision-making at SDTT, citing the case of the SDTT merger proposal to Tata Sons to see if the holding company can escape the RBI mandate on listing.

Tata Trusts has proposed listing of Tata Sons with two subsidiaries, which will make it holding-cum-operating company, and not just a holding company. PTI