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The trustees of Tata Trusts have decided to initiate proceedings before the appropriate authority to alter restrictive clauses governing eligibility of trustees in the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, in a move aimed at aligning the trust deed with the group’s long-standing inclusive ethos.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Bai Hirabai Trust’s board held on April 17 under the chairmanship of Noel Tata. The trustees said the move seeks to correct anomalies in the 1923 trust deed, which introduced restrictions — including barring non-Zoroastrians from trusteeship — that were not part of the original codicil to the will of Sir Ratan Tata.
In a statement issued on April 20, the trustees emphasised that the original 1916 codicil did not impose any restrictions based on ethnicity, race or religion. They noted that the Bai Hirabai Trust was intended to be administered by trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, without any such limitations.
“The Codicil further provided that the Trustees of the Will of Sir Ratan Tata, who were also Trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) – a Trust created by his Will – would also be Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust,” the statement said.
The trustees further clarified that the Bai Hirabai Trust is a non-shareholding entity with a limited asset base and relatively modest activities.
“In the year 2015, the objects of the Bai Hirabai Trust were enlarged to also cover the general public as beneficiaries of the activities of the Trust,” and added, “There are no such restrictions as to qualifications for Trusteeship of SRTT nor of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) nor of any other Tata Trust.”
Nonetheless, it is a fact that the Trust Deed made in 1923 by the then Trustees, contained restrictive clauses that, amongst other things, prohibited non-Zoroastrians from being Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust, the statement said.
The board also highlighted that non-Zoroastrians have been appointed as trustees since 2000, following a legal opinion from a former Chief Justice of India. It reiterated that inclusivity and secularism have been central to the Tata ethos, which has historically focused on philanthropy and service to the nation.
Separately, the trustees expressed full confidence in the chief executive officer of Tata Trusts, endorsing his administrative leadership.
This move by Tata Trusts follows objections raised by ousted former trustee Mehli Mistry to the appointment of Vijay Singh and Venu Srinivasan to the board of Bai Hirabai Trsust, saying that they did not meet the eligibility of condition of belonging to the Parsi-Zosoastrian faith. Srinivasan resigned from the Trust thereafter, while Singh continues to remain on board.