There was no conflict of interest in Venu Srinivasan having engaged Gerry McGovern, who was then the Chief Creative Officer of Jaguar Land Rover, as consultant for Norton Motorcycles, according to Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
On Wednesday former Tata Trusts trustee, Mehli Mistry, in a filing with the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, had alleged conflict of interest and breach of fiduciary duties by Srinivasan, as a Tata Trusts trustee and Tata Sons board member, in having engaged McGovern.
In a statement to businessline, Chandrasekaran said, “Mr Venu Srinivasan had approached both Mr Ratan Tata and me about engaging Gerry McGovern, for some brand advisory support with respect to Norton. After discussing we did not find conflict with JLR and I gave the consent.”
Mistry also raised the question whether Srinivasan paid Jaguar Land Rover for using the services of McGovern and sought the Charity Commissioner to direct Srinivasan to disclose such details.
There was no response to this particular matter from Chandrasekaran’s office as of press time.
Norton Motorcycles is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TVS Motor.
Srinivasan, who joined Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in 2016 as one of its trustees, was appointed vice chairman of Tata Trusts in 2018. He is on the board of Tata Sons as non-executive director. He was also chairman and managing director of TVS Motor till 2022, when he became Chairman Emeritus.
Mistry, whose reappointment as Tata Trusts trustee was blocked last year, has alleged serious violations in the governance of the Trust.
He has raised questions of the legality of the board of trustees, saying that appointments made in the past were in violation of the provisions of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950.
Published on April 16, 2026