MUMBAI: Tata Trusts has asked petitioner Suresh Tulsiram Patelkhede and his lawyer Katyani Agarwal to withdraw allegations of wrongdoing over a 37-year-old transfer of 833 Tata Sons equity shares, seeking Rs 1,000 crore as compensation for reputational damage and distress.
The charitable organizations sent notices to both, saying that the transfer of shares from the Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust to the late Naval Tata was approved by the boards of both the organisations, vetted by the late jurist Nani Palkhivala, and was made for consideration, a year after Naval resigned from NRTT.The action follows a complaint filed by Patelkhede with the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra, seeking an investigation into the transfer of shares in January 1989. Patelkhede alleged that the transfer was illegal because it transferred shares from a public charity to a private individual, that it was not authorized by any trusteeship resolution, that there was no deed of transfer and that it was done without any consideration. The 833 shares are now owned by Naval’s three sons: the late Ratan Tata, Jimmy Tata and Noel Tata.In a statement issued on Friday, the Trusts described Patelkhede as a “serial litigator” whose allegations appear aimed at discrediting the Trusts and the Tata family.