Tata Trusts to amend Bai Hirabai Trust deed, trustee eligibility clauses under review

Mumbai: Tata Trusts has said it will approach the appropriate authority to amend restrictive clauses in the trust deed of the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, in a move that comes amid renewed internal tensions and questions over trustee eligibility.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust held on April 17 under the chairmanship of Noel N. Tata.

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In a press statement, Tata Trusts said the Tata ethos has always been inclusive, secular and focused on philanthropy and national service. Non-Zoroastrians have been continuously appointed to the trust since 2000 based on a legal opinion from a former Chief Justice of India. It added that the Bai Hirabai Trust is a non-shareholding entity with a minimal asset base and limited activities.

"The Bai Hirabai Trust was created under the 1916 Codicil to the Will of Sir Ratan Tata who died in 1918. The Codicil did not provide for any restrictions in respect of Trustees on grounds of ethnicity, race or religion. The Codicil further provided that the Trustees of the Will of Sir Ratan Tata, who were also Trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) - a Trust created by his Will - would also be Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust. In the year 2015, the objects of the Bai Hirabai Trust were enlarged to also cover the general public as beneficiaries of the activities of the Trust. There are no such restrictions as to qualifications for Trusteeship of SRTT nor of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) nor of any other Tata Trust. Nonetheless, it is a fact that the Trust Deed made in 1923 by the then Trustees, contained restrictive clauses that, amongst other things, prohibited non-Zoroastrians from being Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust. These provisions imposed restrictions not provided for by Sir Ratan Tata’s Codicil" the statement said."

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In order to correct anomalies in the Trust Deed and to align it with the values that the Tata Trusts have always epitomised, the Trustees have decided to adopt proceedings before the appropriate authority for alteration of restrictive clauses in respect of eligibility of Trustees."

The statement follows fresh friction within Tata Trusts after CEO Siddharth Sharma asked vice-chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh to step down from the Bai Hirabai Trust late last week. Srinivasan has resigned, while Singh has not.Both vice-chairmen told ET that a key legal opinion by former Chief Justice M. H. Kania on trustee eligibility had been concealed from them.

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They further alleged Srinivasan’s resignation was obtained without full disclosure and amounted to misrepresentation. Srinivasan said he was not fully informed of the situation and that Justice Kania’s opinion was not shared when the resignation request was made.The resignations followed a petition by trustee Mehli Mistry before the Charity Commissioner seeking an inquiry. Mistry alleged that neither Srinivasan nor Singh met the eligibility criteria to hold office, contending both were neither members of the Parsi Zoroastrian faith nor permanent residents of Mumbai, conditions he claimed were mandatory under the trust provisions.