The Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra (CCM) will hear Tata Trusts’ response on complaints filed by former trustee Mehli Mistry on October 15.
The matter was listed for hearing on Tuesday and has now been deferred to next month as the Sir Ratan Tata Trust ( SRTT) sought more time citing the exit of board member Vijay Singh.
Mistry stepped down as a trustee in three trusts last October after board members voted against his reappointment. Subsequently, Tata Trusts filed a change report with the CCM notifying the regulator about the end of Mistry’s term.
Mistry has raised issues of governance and alleged misconduct by trustees in his objection to the change reports filed by SRTT, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution.
On Tuesday, lawyers representing SRTT informed the CCM that the trust needs to substitute Singh, whose term in the trust ended last month. Singh had signed the change report, which has been objected to by Mistry. Matters related to two other trusts were also adjourned to October 15.
Interestingly, SRTT itself faces a CCM restriction and is barred from conducting meetings. The CCM is probing alleged violations of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act by the trust.