Tata Trusts tussle: Bombay High Court declines urgent hearing for injunction petition against May 8 meeting

The Bombay High Court refused to pass an interim order on a writ petition asking the Court to grant an interim injunction preventing the upcoming May 8 board meetings of two trusts, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. The high court declined to hold an urgent hearing for the matter.The trustees are scheduled to discuss important decisions on May 8, including a recasting of the Tata Sons board.

This comes to pass as resolutions to remove TVS Group Chairman and Tata Trusts vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan from the Tata Sons board are expected to be put to a vote by the Trustees.
Bhaskar Bhat, a company veteran best known for his administration of Titan, is expected to take his seat on the Tata Sons board.The Court has asked the petitioner to move the vacation bench for a hearing. The Bombay High Court has indicated a possible hearing in the first week of June. Tata Trusts’ lawyers were present for the hearing; they had filed a caveat to avoid any interim orders without hearing them.

The Bombay High Court goes on a summer break from Saturday.

Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950Allegations about the makeup of trustees within the Trust’s network and the relevance of provisions under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, are connected to the legal action.

The petitioner claimed in a letter dated April 18 to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner that the Sir Ratan Tata Trust had broken Section 30A(2) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.

According to the clause, the number of perpetual trustees cannot be more than one-fourth of the total number of trustees if a trust document does not expressly provide for them.

In addition, Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede’s petition aims to prevent the trusts and trustees from “passing, recording, implementing or giving effect to any resolutions, approvals, financial sanctions, appointments, policy decisions or governance actions” resulting from the planned May 8 meetings until the boards are reconstituted in accordance with the statutory mandate.

Due to their possible effects on the future governance structure of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons, the parent company of the Tata group, the May 8 meetings will be widely monitored. Notably, a majority of the directors selected by Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board must approve important decisions, according to Article 121A of the Tata Sons’ Articles of Association.

At a time when internal conflicts within the Trusts have already escalated over board participation, trustee appointments, and oversight of Tata Sons, the most recent court action creates yet another layer of uncertainty regarding the governance structure of Tata Trusts.

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