Tata Trusts chairman, Noel Tata, is understood to have also voted against the reappointments of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh to the board of Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT) last week, sources said.
The terms of both Srinivasan and Singh as trustees of TEDT were due for renewal on Sunday. According to the voting pattern, former trustee Mehli Mistry, JN Mistry and Tata voted against their reappointments, while Singh and Srinivasan voted in favour of each other.
Venu Srinivasan, Trustee and Vice-Chairman, Sir Ratan Tata Trust
| Photo Credit: KSL
Though Tata Education is a non-shareholding trust allied to Sir Ratan Tata Trust, the development is significant because both Srinivasan and Singh have publicly backed the listing of Tata Sons, in which Tata Trusts has a stake of around 66 per cent.
Noel is understood to have voted well after the others and the negative votes had already been cast, sources said.
There was no response to an email sent to Tata Trusts seeking comment.
Sources said that Tata’s vote against Srinivasan and Singh reflected his displeasure over their support for listing Tata Sons, a position that is at odds with his own preference to keep the holding company unlisted. It also highlights the widening rift among the trustees, with no unanimity and several dissenting voices emerging on crucial issues.
Their volte face with respect to the listing issue comes after unanimous resolutions taken both by the boards of Tata Sons and Tata Trust to keep it unlisted.
One of the items up for discussion at last Friday’s aborted meeting was the possible removal of Srinivasan as a Tata Trusts’ nominee on the Tata Sons board, with Bhaskar Bhat likely to replace him. That meeting is now shifted to next Saturday.
Tata is understood to be strengthening his own position within the Tata group and the appointments of his son Neville Tata and Bhat last year, on the board of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust was a move in this direction.
However his attempt to induct Neville to the SRTT board was blocked by Srinivasan.
Mehli Mistry’s objections to Singh and Srinivasan’s reappointments to TEDT are linked to the governance lapses he alleged in filings made earlier this year before the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner.
Mistry alleged that Singh received commissions from Tata Sons in violation of the Trust Act, while Srinivasan misused his position as a nominee director on the Tata Sons board to secure design work free of cost from Gerry McGovern, then COO of Jaguar Land Rover, for Norton Motorcycles, a subsidiary of TVS Motor Company.