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EXCLUSIVE | Tata director admits: Breaking consensus got us unwelcome publicity, govt’s attention

Tension persists as September 11 meeting also seen to have cost Trusts a seat on Tata Sons board.

Tata Trusts hold a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons.

DESPITE THE exit of Mehli Mistry from Tata Trusts, there is still pain and rancour within the organisation over the manner in which a group of trustees led by Mistry blocked the nomination of Vijay Singh to the board of Tata Sons at the September 11 meeting. Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies.

Responding to a recent letter from Darius Khambata, who is a senior lawyer and trustee on the boards of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, a senior Tata Group director said the September 11 meeting was “botched” and triggered a series of developments that went against the Trusts’ interests.

“I don’t know if there was a coup or not, but whatever happened was certainly botched. It resulted in the loss of a Trusts seat on the Tata Sons board, the attention of the Government of India, and a great deal of unwelcome publicity,” the Tata Group director said in a written response to The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity.

In his November 10 letter to Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and other trustees, Khambata said, “We felt absolutely nothing against Vijay (Singh), and we regretted that he was not present at the meeting so that we could explain our position to him face to face.” Singh, who retired as India’s Defence Secretary, had joined Tata Trusts in 2018 on the invitation of Ratan Tata.

While Ratan Tata always stood for consensus on appointments and nominations, especially in Tata Trusts, a bloc of four trustees led by Mistry resulted in an unprecedented 4:3 split stalling his reappointment to the Tata Sons board.

“I have already regretted the unfair slant media coverage gave this and the consequent pain Vijay has had to bear. With the benefit of hindsight, a greater attempt at forging a consensus should have been made by all,” Khambata wrote.

Responding to this, the senior Tata director said, “At a personal level, in response to Khambata’s view that Vijay Singh should have been present, I can only say that no self-respecting person would subject himself to being placed in the dock in this manner.” “I believe Khambata would have done the same if he had been in his position. I would request not to be quoted on any of this but felt that some response was needed to Khambata’s letter,” he said.

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The notes from Khambata and the Tata director come amid a growing perception that Khambata, Pramit Jhaveri, Mehli Mistry and Jehangir H.C. Jehangir acted in concert, and they opposed Noel Tata and other trustees (Vijay Singh and Venu Srinivasan). The Mehli Mistry bloc had opposed Singh’s nomination to the Tata Sons board, the principal holding company of the Tata group.

Tata Trusts hold a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons. As of now, Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan of the TVS Group are the two directors representing the Trusts on the Tata Sons board.

“What has pained me the most is the insinuation that the events of our meeting of September 11, 2025 signified some kind of ‘coup’ or ‘takeover’. This is absurd,” Khambata wrote. “I had no such intention and I believe neither did anyone else. Nothing we did even remotely suggests this. It was a difference of approach in an annual review concerning representation of the Trusts through their nominee directors on the board of Tata Sons,” he said in the letter addressed to Noel Tata and other trustees including Jhaveri, Jehangir, Singh and Srinivasan.