Venu Srinivasan, the Chairman emeritus of TVS Motor, and the Vice Chairman and trustee to seven trusts of the Tata Group, has quit the Bai Hirabai Charitable Trust (Tata Trust), citing commitments to other businesses, news agency ANI reported on Saturday, April 4. His resignation also comes a day after one of the former trustee questioned his eligibility.
Mehli Mistry, former trustee of three-key trusts of the Tata Group including the Bai Hirabai Trust Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution (BHJTNCI), on Friday, April 3, formally challenged the appointment of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh in the BHJTNCI.
What did the objection application say?
In his objection application, written to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner, Mehli Mistry said Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh were ineligible to qualify for the positions. Mistry also said that the appointment of them blatant violation of a 1923 Trust Deed.
Mistry had argued that, under Clauses 6 and 18, of the said Deed, any such disqualified trustee must be treated as “deemed dead.”
In his objection letter to the charity commissioner, Mehli Misry also claimed that Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh had never been of the Parsi Zoroastrian faith, neither did they have permanent residences in Mumbai.
Thus, they are deemed to attract automatic disqualification, he argued, ANI reported.
Mehli Mistry has sought a suo motu inquiry by the State’s Charity Commissioner and requests the authority to direct all trustees to file affidavits confirming their eligibility.
The objection application said, “The Applicant/Objector is pained to bring to the notice of this Hon’ble Authority, that Applicants Nos. 3 and 4 amongst others, ex facie, never met the qualifications to become trustees and are expressly disqualified from acting as trustees. Any trustees who do not meet the qualifications are to be ‘deemed to be dead’ under Clauses 6 and 18 of the Trust Deed. Applicants Nos. 3 and 4 have never been and cannot be of Parsi Zoroastrian faith. Further, Applicants Nos. 3 and 4 do not have any permanent residence in Mumbai.”
“Notably, the Trust Deed carves out a situation wherein if a person ceases to be of Zoroastrian faith, they cease to operate as if they are dead, thereby warranting a continuing investigation as to whether any trustee falls within the said category of being a Zoroastrian earlier, and having ceased to follow the Zoroastrian faith. The Applicant/Objector prays for this Hon’ble Authority to suo motu initiate a detailed inquiry to be conducted on the said matter, by calling for an affidavit by each Applicant,” the objection letter mentioned.
