Mehli Mistry sends out truce signals to Tata Trusts after filing caveat

Within days of filing a caveat with the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner that he should be heard before being ousted as a Tata Trusts trustee, Mehli Mistry has sent out truce signals. In a communication to Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, Mistry, a businessman and a close associate of Ratan Tata, is learnt to have indicated his willingness to  end the ongoing dispute. This is expected to ease the tension at Tata Trusts, which has a controlling stake of around 66 per cent in Tata Sons, the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate.

 

In a letter dated November 4, Mistry said he was committed to Ratan Tata’s vision that included responsibility to ensure that Tata Trusts did not plunge into controversy, according to a source in the know. Stating that the current rift may cause “irreparable” harm to Tata Trusts’ reputation, Mistry expressed hope that the other trustees would be guided by the principles of public interest and good governance.

 

Pointing out that his letter should put “the quietus on speculative reports” that do not serve the interests of Tata Trusts, Mistry acknowledged his privilege of having served as a trustee till October 28, 2025. He’s learnt to have signed off the letter quoting Ratan Tata that nobody is bigger than the institution.

 

An email sent to Tata Trusts on this development did not elicit a response till the time of going to press.   After his term was not renewed at two core trusts — Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust — Mistry had last week filed a caveat with the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner. The caveat was to seek an opportunity to be heard when Tata Trusts initiates proceedings to formally remove him from the SDTT and SRTT—which together hold more than 50 per cent in Tata Sons. Mistry remains a trustee at Tata Education and Development Trust.  

 

Within a year of Ratan Tata’s passing, differences among the trustees surfaced over many issues including sharing of Tata Sons board agenda by nominee directors. The rift widened in September 2025 when Mehli Mistry and his supporters at Tata Trusts voted against the reappointment of Vijay Singh, vice-chairman of Tata Trusts and former defence secretary, as Trusts’ nominee on the Tata Sons board.

 

In the same Tata Trusts meeting, Noel Tata had opposed Mistry’s nomination to the board of Tata Sons as a Trusts nominee. Currently, there are two Trusts nominees on the Tata Sons board—Noel Tata and industrialist Venu Srinivasan.

 

Soon after the tension at the Tata Trusts board meeting, renewal of trustees’ tenure turned into a contentious issue. In October, Venu Srinivasan’s term was renewed and he was made a life trustee, as decided in a recent resolution. Mehli Mistry reportedly gave a conditional nod, saying that the subsequent renewals should also be approved.

 

When it was the turn of Mehli Mistry’s term renewal in the last week of October, three trustees—Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh—voted against him. Three trustees--senior lawyer Darius Khambata, banker Prameet Jhaveri and Jehangir HC Jehangir (chairman and CEO of Jehangir Hospital)—approved renewing Mistry’s term.

 

Mehli Mistry is related to the Shapoorji Pallonji family, which has been in a long-standing corporate battle with the Tata Group after Cyrus Mistry (a scion of the Shapoorji group) was ousted as Tata Sons chairman in 2016.

 

To resolve the crisis at Tata Trusts, Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had to intervene recently. They met top representatives of Tata Sons and Tata Trusts to discuss the matter. The ministers are learnt to have advised  stability at the Tata group considering its importance in the Indian economy.

 

The tension at Tata Trusts coincides with the mandate of the Reserve Bank of India on listing of Tata Sons by September 30, 2025, under its scale-based regulatory framework introduced in October 2022. Tata Sons had sought an exemption from listing last year. Even as Tata Trusts advised Tata Sons to engage with RBI to prevent a public listing, Shapoorji Pallonnji, which holds about 18 per cent in Tata Sons, recently reiterated its position pushing for a listing of the Tata Group’s holding company.