Tata Trusts has challenged Mehli Mistry's legal standing to contest trustee changes at Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabjee Tata, arguing that he cannot raise objections after his three-year term expired, as a wider dispute over governance and trustee appointments played out before the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner on Thursday.
The trust, while denying Mistry's allegations of misgovernance and mismanagement, contended first that only a serving trustee or a beneficiary can object to a change report. Mistry did not qualify as either of those when he filed his objections, months after the trust reported the end of his tenure, Tata Trusts' lawyers argued.
Mistry's term at Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) expired on October 28, 2025. His reappointment did not proceed because the trust requires unanimity among trustees, which was not achieved, according to the trust's submissions. Trusts maintain that this was the expiry of a fixed term, not the removal of a trustee, and that the change report was a statutory filing reflecting the change in its composition.
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As per Trusteeship laws, the change report is a statutory compliance requirement which a trust has to file on the change in trusteeship, whether by expiry of term, removal or addition.
Mistry's side sought time to respond to the trust's submissions.
The challenge to his standing forms one part of a wider contest over the administration of Tata's philanthropic institutions, with a separate dispute emerging over Noel Tata's proposed appointment as reporting trustee of the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution.
The application seeks to substitute Noel Tata for Vijay Singh, whose term expired on August 14, 2026. Mistry has objected, arguing that the proposed appointment must comply with Clauses 6 and 18 of the trust deed dated December 7, 1923, which stipulate that trustees must be practising Zoroastrians of the Parsi community. He has asked the Charity Commissioner to require Noel Tata to file an affidavit confirming that he meets the eligibility criteria.
Thursday's proceedings also saw a dispute over a request by SRTT for more time to reply to Mistry's separate complaint against the trust. SRTT cited Charity Commissioner orders dated May 15 and May 18, 2026, under Section 36A(1) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, in complaints filed by Katyayani Agrawal and Venu Srinivasan. The orders directed that no trust meeting be held until the inspector's inquiry report was submitted. The trust said the orders remained operative and sought an adjournment until the complaints were finally disposed of.
Mistry's lawyers opposed the request, accusing the trust of delaying the proceedings. They argued that SRTT had previously sought an adjournment on September 8 on the ground that trustee substitution was necessary, but was now relying on the May orders. They also said filing a reply to the objections would not itself amount to a decision on the trust's administration, management or composition, and could be filed despite the May 15 and May 18 orders.
SRTT's lawyers disputed Mistry's account, saying it contained factual misstatements and that they would respond. The next hearing is scheduled for November 5.
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