Trustees of Tata Trusts must be reappointed once their term ends to become eligible for lifetime trusteeship, Business Standard reported, citing unidentified people.
With the tenure of some trustees expiring at the end of this month, lawyers are reportedly scrutinising the fine print of clauses related to lifetime trusteeship, the newspaper reported.
Lifetime trusteeship was approved by Tata Trusts in a meeting held shortly after Ratan Tata's passing last year. However, the trustee's term must first be renewed before they can attain lifetime status, with the renewal requiring consensus among the trustees, the paper said. Key trusts, which together with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust own 66 percent stake in Tata Sons, have traditionally operated on three-year terms.
Several trustees whose terms are up for renewal are keen to secure lifetime status, the report said.
The development comes at a time when a deep rift has emerged among the trustees after the events of September 11 meeting. Moneycontrol had previously reported how Mehli Mistry, Jehangir HC Jehangir, Pramit Jhaveri and Darius Khambata had clashed with Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan over the reappointment of Vijay Singh as Tata Sons’ nominee director at the last month meeting. A former Defence Secretary, Singh had resigned last month.
Growing disagreement over the decision-making and communication processes between the Trusts and Tata Sons are at the heart of the latest turmoil within the Tata Trusts. Trustees are split on whether the current governance framework ensures sufficient consultation, transparency, and collective oversight, especially concerning large capital deployments or board-level appointments.
The unease has also exposed differences in leadership style. During Ratan Tata’s long tenure as chairman, decision-making was marked by cohesion and deference to his authority.
Key agenda items for Tata Sons board meetings would be discussed between Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and Ratan Tata, according to people familiar with the matter. Subsequently Mr Tata would convey his instructions to the nominees of Tata Trusts on the Tata sons.
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