Sir Dorabji Tata Trust answers India's charity regulator

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the largest shareholder in Tata Sons, has submitted its response to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner, the state office weighing complaints from two trustees over the governance of the trust and its role inside the holding company of India's largest conglomerate. The trust, which holds nearly 24 percent of Tata Sons, had been told to reply by October 12; it asked for more time and filed by the extended deadline of October 19.

The complaints grow out of a boardroom fight. A Tata Sons meeting on September 17 broke into disagreements over the conglomerate's future, including a potential listing of the holding company and the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as chairman. Venu Srinivasan, the trust's vice-chairman, then approached the commissioner seeking an inquiry into the trust's governance, the appointment of Noel Tata as perpetual trustee, and the trust's involvement in Tata Sons' commercial affairs; Vijay Singh filed a separate complaint on the same ground — trustee appointments, governance, and the trust's role in the company. The complaints also question the appointment of Neville Tata.

Earlier this year, the same commissioner froze the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, a sister charity, over alleged violations of norms, and in May ordered an inquiry into its board composition and the rules governing perpetual trustees, directing it to defer a scheduled meeting. The restrictions left Tata Sons without the shareholder representation its annual general meeting required, and the meeting was adjourned for lack of quorum.

Tata Sons sits atop the conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover; the Tata trusts hold roughly two-thirds of its shares, and who governs the trusts is, in practice, who governs the conglomerate.

The trust's response is now in the commissioner's hands. His freeze on a sister trust earlier this year was enough to leave the conglomerate's annual meeting without a quorum.