The Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the withdrawal of a writ petition challenging the life trustee structure of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), while orally observing that the petitioner lacked locus and had not approached the court fairly.

A division bench of Justice Advait Sethna and Justice Sandesh Dadasaheb Patil permitted petitioner Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede to withdraw the plea. During the hearing, the bench observed that the petitioner “has not been fair” and noted that he lacked the locus to maintain the petition before the court.

The bench further observed that Patilkhede was not the original complainant in the matter pending before the Charity Commissioner and had failed to disclose details regarding the original complainant in the writ petition.

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The detailed order was not uploaded at the time of filing the report.

Senior Advocates Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for Tata Trusts and other respondents, argued that the petitioner had no legal standing to challenge the trust’s structure through the present writ petition.

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The petition had alleged that the current composition of the SRTT board violated provisions introduced under the Maharashtra Public Trust (Second Amendment) Act, 2025. It claimed that the number of life trustees exceeded the statutory limit prescribed under the amended law, rendering decisions taken by the trust after September 1, 2025 invalid.

The petitioner had also sought a stay on the upcoming SRTT meeting scheduled for May 16.

Earlier, on May 7, the High Court had refused to grant interim relief and orally observed that the petitioner could approach the vacation bench if urgent relief was required.

The proposed SRTT meeting assumes significance as its agenda reportedly includes reconsidering Tata Trusts’ representation on the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. At present, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and vice chairman Venu Srinivasan serve as trust nominees on the Tata Sons board.

SRTT holds a 23.56% stake in Tata Sons, while Tata Trusts collectively own around 66% equity in the group holding company.

Under the Maharashtra Public Trusts (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, a newly inserted Section 30A(2) caps the number of perpetual or life trustees at one-fourth of a trust’s total board strength where the trust deed contains no specific provision on the issue.

According to the petition, SRTT currently has six trustees, including three life trustees — Noel Tata, Jimmy N Tata and Jehangir HC Jehangir — allegedly exceeding the 25% ceiling prescribed under the amended law.

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Published on: May 13, 2026 4:49 PM IST