

A third legal salvo against Tata Trusts ahead of key 16 May meeting
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bengaluru and Mumbai: A 37-year-old transfer of shares of Tata Sons from a trust to the late Naval Tata—later inherited by his sons, Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata, the late Ratan Tata and his brother Jimmy Tata—has surfaced as an issue for the philanthropic entities that control the group.On Tuesday, Sunil Tulsiram Patilkhede, through his lawyer, Katyayani Agrawal, sent a legal notice to the six trustees of Sir Ratan Tata Trust, or SRTT, which owns 23.56% of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.This is the third such legal notice against SRTT in the last month. First, lawyer Agrawal had complained to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner that three among its six trustees—Noel Tata, Pune philanthropist Jehangir HC Jehnagir, and Jimmy Tata—were permanent trustees.This, she alleged, violated rules that capped the number of lifetime trustees at a fourth of the total number of trustees.Last week, Suresh Patilkhede, a Mumbai resident, had sought an adjournment of a Tata Trust meeting before the Bombay High Court.
The court declined such an order.Unrelatedly, the Tata Trust meeting scheduled for last Friday was deferred to 16 May; no reason was given.It is not immediately clear if Sunil Patilkhede and Suresh Patilkhede are related. Mint could not ascertain reasons behind Agrawal, Sunil Patilkhede, and Suresh Patilkhede's involvement in the affairs of the Tata Group.Suresh Patilkhede fought as an independent candidate against the state’s deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat in Thane in 2024.While Sunil Patilkhede could not be reached for a comment, Suresh Patilkhede declined to speak.
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