According to latest reports from Fortune India, Tata Trusts has completely scrapped the clause barring non-Zoroastrians from serving as trustees on the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution. The decision represents a complete reversal of the century-old provision that had previously restricted trustee eligibility to practising Zoroastrians with permanent residence in Mumbai or Navsari. In a comprehensive press statement, Tata Trusts emphasized that the Tata ethos has always been inclusive, secular and focused on philanthropy and national service, stating that non-Zoroastrians have been continuously appointed to the trust since 2000 based on a legal opinion from a former Chief Justice of India. The trustees have decided to adopt proceedings before the appropriate authority for alteration of restrictive clauses to correct anomalies in the Trust Deed and align it with the values that the Tata Trusts have always epitomised.
As reported by The Times of India, Tata Trusts has decided to seek alteration of restrictive clauses governing trustee eligibility for the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution. The decision was taken at a board meeting held on April 17 under the chairmanship of Noel Tata, who leads the Tata Trusts, to review the organisation's activities amid recent coverage highlighting the discriminatory clauses. The move follows a challenge by Mehli Mistry, a former trustee, who petitioned the commissioner arguing that the 1923 trust deed required all trustees to be practising Zoroastrians with permanent residence in Mumbai or Navsari. According to Fortune India, the board said that a statement should go out to address the issue which was totally incorrect. The latest developments show fresh friction within Tata Trusts after CEO Siddharth Sharma asked vice-chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh to step down from the Bai Hirabai Trust late last week, with Srinivasan having resigned while Singh has not. Mistry had claimed that Srinivasan and Singh do not meet the criteria laid out in the trust deed, including conditions related to practising the Parsi Zoroastrian faith and residency in Mumbai.
As reported by Fortune India, the contentious clauses were introduced by trustees in 1923, years after Sir Ratan Tata's death in 1918, and went beyond what his 1916 Codicil to the will had stipulated. The original 1916 Codicil to the will of Sir Ratan Tata, under which the Bai Hirabai Trust was established, contained no restrictions based on ethnicity, race, or religion. In the latest statement, Tata Trusts clarified that the Codicil did not provide for any restrictions in respect of Trustees on grounds of ethnicity, race or religion, and 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 trust pointed out that there are no such restrictions as to qualifications for Trusteeship of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) nor of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) nor of any other Tata Trust. In 2015, the objects of the Bai Hirabai Trust were enlarged to also cover the general public as beneficiaries of the activities of the Trust.
According to The Times of India, Venu Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of TVS Motors, resigned from the Bai Hirabai board following Mistry's challenge, later acknowledging he had done so at the request of Tata Trusts management. Vijay Singh, a former defence secretary, declined a similar request and did not attend Friday's meeting. Both men alleged that Tata Trusts had withheld from them a legal opinion by ex-CJI MH Kania, who held that the restrictive eligibility clauses were 'bad in law'. As per Fortune India, the trustees also used the occasion to express full confidence in the trust's chief executive officer and his stewardship of the organisation. The latest reports from The Economic Times reveal that both vice-chairmen told ET that a key legal opinion by former Chief Justice M. H. Kania on trustee eligibility had been concealed from them, with Srinivasan saying he was not fully informed of the situation and that Justice Kania's opinion was not shared when the resignation request was made. The resignations followed a petition by trustee Mehli Mistry before the Charity Commissioner seeking an inquiry.
As reported by The Times of India, Bai Hirabai Trust does not own shares in any Tata company, unlike the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) which holds shares in Tata Sons. The institution was endowed by Sir Ratan Tata, younger son of group founder Jamsetji, who bequeathed properties in Mumbai and Navsari to the institution. The Bai Hirabai Trust itself is described as a non-shareholding body with a minimal asset base and limited activities. Founded in 1892, the Tata Trusts are India's oldest and among Asia's largest philanthropic institutions, working across healthcare, education, nutrition, water and sanitation, and rural and urban livelihoods. Of the seven trusts that collectively own 66% stake in Tata Sons, the unlisted holding company of the $180 billion Tata Group, SDTT and SRTT hold 27.98% and 23.56% respectively, while the other five trusts hold the remainder close to 14% stake.
