Mistry tells Tata Trusts he doesn’t want to challenge ouster
Businessman Mehli Mistry on Tuesday informed Tata Trusts that he did not want to appeal his removal from charities, less than 96 hours after he challenged his dismissal before the Maharashtra charity commissioner.
Mistry, who left the board of trustees on October 28, wrote to the remaining six trustees that, according to Ratan Tata, no one is greater than the institution he serves. “I have served RNT’s vision, including the responsibility to ensure that Tata Trusts are not dragged into controversies and do not precipitate matters that will cause irreparable harm to the reputation of Tata Trusts,” Mistry wrote, according to an executive with knowledge of the communication.
Mistry’s decision marks the end of a brief process that began when Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and trustees Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh opposed his appointment as permanent trustee last week. This comes after Mistry, as well as trustees Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir, had earlier voted to remove Vijay Singh from the Tata Sons board. Tata Trusts is the majority owner of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $300 billion Tata empire.
The director, on condition of anonymity, said in his letter that Mistry evoked the spirit of Tata, which “always puts the public interest ahead of its own” and hoped that the trustees’ future actions will be guided by transparency, good governance and public interest.
Mistry returned to Mumbai from Dubai on Tuesday and immediately confined himself to his family members and close friends, the previously mentioned manager said. “His family is opposed to the stress of him taking on this challenge,” the manager said.
Mistry, a Mumbai-based businessman and confidant of the late tycoon, was the executor and also a beneficiary of the late industrialist’s will.
New members are likely to be appointed at Tata Trusts and possibly a few trustees may leave after completing their terms, a second director said.
Following Tata’s death on October 9, 2024, Tata Trusts appointed Noel to lead the philanthropic organisations. On October 17 last year, the board of trustees unanimously decided to appoint them as permanent trustees after the completion of their current terms of office.
Emails and text messages to Mistry seeking comment went unanswered.
Six trustees of Tata Trusts. Chairman Noel and TVS Motor Co. chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan and retired defense minister Vijay Singh, among others include former Citibank India CEO Pramit Jhaveri, Mumbai lawyer Darius Khambata and Pune-based philanthropist and businessman Jehangir HC Jehangir.
The decision to remove Mistry surprised the Parsi community as well as Ratan Tata’s two half-sisters, Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy; In their first media interview with Mint, they said they were disturbed by the turmoil at Tata Trusts, describing Mistry’s sacking last week as an act of retaliation by other trustees.
