Mehli Mistry, who stepped down from the Tata Trusts as a trustee in November last year after being denied reappointment, has alleged grave illegalities in the administration of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and prayed for the appointment of an Administrator to run the trust.

In a filing on Wednesday before the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, seen by businessline, Mistry questioned the legality of the Board of Trustees, arguing that appointments in the recent past were made in violation of Section 30A of the Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950.

The Board of Trustees now comprises Noel Tata (Chairman), Venu Srinivasan (Vice Chairman), Vijay Singh, Darius Khambata, Bhaskar Bhat and Neville Tata. The last two were appointed in place of Mehli Mistry and Pramit Jhaveri, who stepped down in February.

Interestingly, Mistry has declared that he has “no desire” to rejoin the Trust board but that it should be run by “able, honest Trustees or an Administrator”.

Earlier this month, Mistry had filed an objection with the Charity Commissioner against the presence of Srinivasan and Singh as trustees on the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution on grounds of their not being Parsis and residents of Mumbai, as required by the trust deed.

Illegal board

Objecting to the Change Report filed by SDTT after his exit and the entry of new trustees, Mistry contested his non-renewal as a trustee, arguing that it violated a 2024 resolution for mutual perpetual reappointments among trustees of SDTT and the other major trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

Mistry contended that the board that voted him out was illegal as the appointment to perpetuity of Noel Tata and Srinivasan on the board was in violation of Section 30A of Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.

The said section was introduced into the Act by the Maharashtra government on September 1, 2025, and it placed statutory restrictions, prescribed governance norms relating to the manner of reappointment of trustee, limits on tenure and limitations on appointment of perpetual trustees.

An email sent to Tata Trusts CEO Siddharth Sharma for his reaction remained unanswered until the time of going to press.

Governance Failure

Alleging that the governance of the trusts had been seriously compromised, Mistry named two trustees in his filing for what he called “illegal acts”.

The first pertains to Singh, who is alleged to have pocketed commissions and sitting fees from Tata Sons and other Tata Group companies totalling ₹20.13 crore.

“A trustee is bound by strict fiduciary duties to act solely in the best interests of the trust and to avoid any conflict of interest. The receipt of substantial financial benefits by a trustee from entities connected with the trusts is prima facie inconsistent with such obligations,” Mistry’s filing said.

Mistry also alleged that there were other trustees who were receiving monetary or other personal benefits from their positions.

Asked for his reaction, Singh told businessline: “I will not respond. The Tata Trusts will respond with facts to any queries from the Charity Commissioner.”

JLR and Norton

In a more serious conflict of interest allegation aimed at Srinivasan, Mistry alleged in the objection filing that Srinivasan and his son engaged Gerry McGovern, the COO of Jaguar Land Rover Brand & Luxury, as a consultant for Norton Motorcycles, a subsidiary of TVS Holdings.

He alleged that this was a breach of fiduciary duties as a trustee and nominated director on the Tata Sons board and pleaded for the Charity Commissioner to direct disclosure by Srinivasan if he had paid Jaguar Land Rover for utilising the services of McGovern.

Responding to the allegation, a senior official of the TVS group told businessline that the late Ratan Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran were aware of the engagement of McGovern by Norton. He said McGovern mentored Norton, and it was approved by the top management of Jaguar Land Rover.

Published on April 15, 2026