The Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra ordered the Tata Trust to postpone its board meetings and initiated an investigation into the complaints filed by its deputy chairman Venu Srinivasan and advocate Katyani Agrawal, stating that “the issues highlighted by me are serious and require due consideration.”
This development deepens the dispute over management at one of India’s most influential charities, where Srinivasan was a trustee for ten years since he was appointed by the late Ratan Tata.In an order signed on Friday by Commissioner Amog Kaloti, the regulatory body directed the funds not to hold any meetings until the investigation report is submitted. The trusts – Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) and Tata Education and Development Trust – later informed the trustees that the sessions planned for Saturday were cancelled.Kaloti had on May 13 directed a formal probe into the complaints filed by Agrawal, who had filed a complaint on April 18, and Srinivasan, who had filed a similar complaint on April 28, alleging violation of the Maharashtra Public Trusts (MPT) Act. The move followed a Bombay High Court order on the same day, which, while allowing petitioner Suresh Tulsiram Patelkhede to withdraw his petition, recorded that complaints had been lodged with the Commissioner alleging violations of the September 2025 amendments to the MPT Act limiting permanent trustees in a charitable board to 25%.
The court also recorded the contention of the petitioner that holding the meeting of the trusts on May 16 would be in violation of the statutory mandate.In response to the order, the Trusts said on Friday they were considering the Commissioner’s guidance, adding that the guidance, as they understood, related only to the SRTT and was issued unilaterally, without prior notice being given or hearing from the Trust. They also said that SRTT “was not aware of any complaint filed by Srinivasan until receiving the commissioner’s directions,” noting that he had earlier acknowledged notices of board meetings scheduled for May 8 that were later rescheduled to May 16.Of the six trustees of SRTT, three – Noel Tata, Chairman, Jimmy Tata and Jehangir Jehangir – are permanent trustees. The remaining three, Srinivasan, Vijay Singh and Darius Khambatta, are not permanent. Under the amended law, a trust of this size can only have one permanent trustee.Agrawal argued that since permanent secretaries represented 50% of SRTT’s board – twice the statutory limit – decisions taken by the corporation after the law was amended were liable to be treated as invalid.The funds said the amendment was prospective in nature and did not affect appointments of permanent trustees made before September 1, 2025, a view they said was supported by legal opinions and clarifications they had obtained.The dispute conflicts with a broader disagreement between Noel and Srinivasan over the inclusion of Tata Sons, with Srinivasan in favor and Noel against. Both are members of the board of directors of Tata Sons. The meeting that was canceled on Saturday was to review the Trusts’ nominees to the Tata Sons board and take up the issue of Srinivasan and Singh’s support for Tata Sons’ IPO.Kaloti warned that allowing the board to meet during the investigation could lead to “further complications and multiplicity of procedures,” especially regarding matters of fund administration, administration or composition. He added: “Therefore, it would be in the interest of the Fund and in the interest of justice to postpone such a meeting.”