Trustees Vote Out Mehli Mistry: Ratan Tata’s Close Aide To Leave Tata Trusts Board, Says Report

Three out of six trustees voted against Mistry’s continuation through a circular resolution circulated last week, effectively sealing his fate.

His exit marks another turning point in the post-Ratan Tata era, where internal divisions within the trusts have increasingly come to light.

Source : Alexahire

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Mehli Mistry, 65, is expected to step down from the boards of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust after a majority of trustees opposed his reappointment. 

Citing sources familiar with the developments, Business Standard reported that three out of six trustees voted against Mistry’s continuation through a circular resolution circulated last week, effectively sealing his fate.

Those opposing his reappointment include Chairman Noel Tata, TVS Group Chairman Venu Srinivasan, and former defence secretary Vijay Singh. At the Dorabji Tata Trust, Darius Khambata and Prameet Jhaveri supported Mistry’s extension, while at the Ratan Tata Trust, Khambata and Jehangir H. Jehangir voted in his favour, the report added.

A Trusted Aide of Ratan Tata

Mistry, a close confidant of the late Ratan Tata, joined both Tata Trusts in 2022. The two principal trusts together hold a 51 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, giving them substantial control through veto rights and the ability to nominate a third of the Tata Sons board.

His exit marks another turning point in the post-Ratan Tata era, where internal divisions within the trusts have increasingly come to light. Media reports suggest that tensions escalated after Mistry’s faction voted against the reappointment of Vijay Singh as Tata Sons’ nominee director, a move that reportedly split the board.

However, Tata Trusts has not issued any official comment on the matter.

Links to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group

Mehli Mistry is distantly related to the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) family, long embroiled in a corporate battle with the Tata Group since Cyrus Mistry’s ouster as Tata Sons chairman in 2016. Despite familial ties, reports say Mehli Mistry’s relationship with the SP Group has remained strained and largely detached.

Debate Over ‘Life Trusteeship’ Intensifies

The latest round of board discussions has also brought to the fore differing interpretations of the Trusts’ renewal rules. Venu Srinivasan reportedly received unanimous approval for his reappointment, with Mistry himself backing Srinivasan’s tenure, though he is said to have added a condition that all trustees should receive reciprocal renewals.

Citing individuals familiar with the proceedings, the report said, Mistry’s camp believes that once a trustee completes one renewal, they automatically become a life trustee. However, Noel Tata’s faction interprets the resolution differently, arguing that each renewal must be independently approved.

Following Ratan Tata’s death last year, the Trusts had passed a resolution allowing trustees to become life members after one renewal term. Yet, lawyers advising the organisation remain divided over whether the resolution ensures automatic lifetime status or merely enables reappointment at the board’s discretion.

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