Public Interest Litigation Filed Against Sir Ratan Tata Trust

A public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the Sir Ratan Tata Trust has been lodged with the Charity Commissioner in Mumbai, revealing a possible breach of trusteeship regulations. The case, which has emerged as a significant point of contention in the governance of Tata Trusts, was submitted by lawyer Katyayani Agrawal from the law firm SV & Co. The petition seeks immediate action regarding the perpetual trustees on the trust's board.

The legal appeal argues that the presence of three lifetime trustees among a total of six board members contradicts Section 30A of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act of 1950. This provision, amended in September 2025, stipulates that the composition of a public trust’s board should only include one-fourth lifetime trustees, meaning that only one such position should exist on the board of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). The current board composition violates this requirement, as it consists of half lifetime trustees.

Agrawal has reportedly filed the petition on behalf of her senior, Justice T Raja, who recently concluded his tenure as the acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court in May 2023. When approached for comment, Justice Raja noted that any member of the public could initiate a petition regarding SRTT since it operates as a public charitable entity. However, he did stipulate that the petition was filed on behalf of an unidentified client.

The argument presented in the petition suggests that the continuation of these three lifetime trustees undermines the intention of the 2025 amendment, which aimed to enhance accountability and mitigate the risk of a small group of trustees holding dominance over a trust. The litigation posits, "Such violation renders the current constitution of the Board of Trustees illegal and liable to be rectified forthwith," and calls for an immediate inquiry into the board's structure to adhere to the legal requirements.

The Sir Ratan Tata Trust, established in 1919, alongside the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, holds a combined 50.54 per cent stake in Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the Tata Group. The current trustees of SRTT include Noel Tata (Chairman), Venu Srinivasan (Vice Chairman), Vijay Singh, Jimmy Tata, Darius Khambata, and Jehangir HC Jehangir. Among these, Noel Tata, Jimmy Tata, and Jehangir HC Jehangir are designated as lifetime trustees. The implications of the petition mean that unless the board's size is expanded, two current lifetime trustees will lose their status under the amended provisions.

Notably, Jimmy Tata already held his lifetime trustee position when Noel Tata joined the board in 2019 as their half-brother. The PIL aims to bring attention to the governance of the trust, stressing the urgency of the situation. It states, “Given the high public profile of the Trust and the fact that it controls significant public charitable funds, any delay in intervention will perpetuate an illegal state of affairs and erode public confidence in the regulatory framework.”

The petition has requested that the matter be treated with utmost urgency and that appropriate measures be enacted quickly. As of the time of publication, an email sent to Siddharth Sharma, the CEO of Tata Trusts, had not received a response.