Tata Sons' Group Company Secretary Suprakash Mukhopadhyay is facing renewed scrutiny after questions were raised over the thoroughness of an internal probe that cleared him of alleged involvement in soliciting an investment for his family's wealth advisory business. According to reports from Mint, a previously unreported email detailing Mukhopadhyay's involvement has come to light, raising fresh concerns about the extent to which his professional position and family business interests overlapped. The email disclosed how Mukhopadhyay allegedly used his position to get his elder daughter to present the family's wealth advisory firm to him, highlighting potential conflicts of interest. Darius Khambata, who rejoined the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in November 2023, had asked Tata Sons board representatives to question chairman N Chandrasekaran, a close associate of Mukhopadhyay, over possible violations of the company's code of conduct. In an email to Tata Trustees on 16 April, Khambata wrote, 'I think the Trust must ask the chairman of Tata Sons as to whether there has been any breach of the Tata Sons Code of Conduct and what action, if any, is proposed to be taken.'
The controversy centers around Divinion Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd., a wealth advisory firm owned by Mukhopadhyay's family, which was listed as part of the 473 'Tata Group and sponsor' companies in 2022 before being removed in 2023. As reported by Mint, the email disclosed how Mukhopadhyay allegedly used his position to get his elder daughter to present the family's wealth advisory firm to him. The firm is backed by Tata Asset Management Ltd, where Mukhopadhyay serves as a director, creating a direct conflict of interest between his professional responsibilities and family business interests. Khambata's investment was made in late 2022, before he became a trustee in November 2023, and he made a disclosure to fellow trustees on 16 April 2025. At the end of March 2024, Mukhopadhyay's wife Paromita, together with her two daughters owned 33.34% of the company, while each of the sisters, together with the other sister and mother, owned 33.3% according to Divinion's filings with the corporate affairs ministry.
According to Tata Strive, Mukhopadhyay is a qualified Cost & Management Accountant, Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary, holding a bachelor's degree in Commerce (Hons) from St Xavier's in Kolkata. He joined the Tata Group in 1988, beginning his career at Tata Steel's Jharia Division before moving to Tata Financial Services in 2000, where he was responsible for the Treasury function. He later joined TCS in 2008 as Company Secretary and served as Global Treasury Head and Company Secretary before returning to Tata Sons. Mukhopadhyay received a three-year extension in March 2024 when he turned 60 and will retire in March next year. Chandrasekaran, who took over as chairman in February 2017, first picked him from TCS to join the group's holding company in April 2017.
The controversy began in 2025 when Darius Khambata asked Tata Sons board representatives to question chairman N Chandrasekaran over possible violations of the company's code of conduct. In his email to trustees, Khambata revealed that Mukhopadhyay's other daughter, who was working for this Fund, had approached him in late 2022 to make a presentation about investment with the Fund. Khambata said he was 'quite impressed and made an investment' but was not aware that the Fund was owned by Mukhopadhyay's family. 'I thought his daughter worked for the Fund. She did not at all suggest that the Fund was connected to the Tata Group,' Khambata wrote. He added that he 'was not aware' that the Fund was owned by Mukhopadhyay's family and suggested that Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh find out from Chandrasekaran and keep them informed. Khambata's investment was made more than 10 months before he was named a trustee in November 2023, and he applied to redeem these units after becoming aware of Mukhopadhyay's ownership.
Within a week of Mint's report, the group set up a three-member committee comprising Nupur Mallick, head of Tata Sons human resources; Eruch N. Kapadia, a finance executive; and Sidharth Sharma, general counsel at the group to probe the incident. The panel concluded that there were 'prima facie lapses on Mr Mukhopadhyay's part' in making adequate and timely disclosure about his involvement with Divinion, his making or facilitating solicitations from former Tata employees, and any transactions between Divinion and Tata group entities. However, the probe report fell short of concluding he was guilty, stating there was 'no intentional breach of Tata Code of Conduct' or mala fide intent on his part. A Tata trustee said there is sufficient reason to start a new investigation now, including details of this email, and whether the internal committee had reviewed them. Emails sent to Tata Sons and Mukhopadhyay seeking comment went unanswered, while an email to Tata Trusts, which owns 65.9% of Tata Sons, also did not elicit a reply.
