New Delhi [India], September 20 (ANI): Terming any move to rupture the century-old hyphenated relationship between Tata Trusts and Tata Sons as an untenable step in the ongoing dispute, Senior Supreme Court Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi noted that the answer will be in the courts who alone can find solutions.
“Rupturing the over 100 years of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons which have an established, hyphenated relationship and trying to divorce one from the other seems to me to be unthinkable,” Singhvi told ANI.
Reflecting on his personal acquaintance with the primary figures and his familiarity with the group under Ratan Tata, the senior advocate expressed regret that the matter failed to reach an amicable conclusion outside the courtroom. However, he noted that legal intervention becomes unavoidable when core ownership interests face infringement.
“As I am professionally engaged to lead on one side, I must also say that in the ultimate analysis, the fundamental rights, the basic rights of shareholder owners cannot unfortunately be nullified in the manner in which they have been,” he said.
“Because to stultify shareholder rights, would in a sense on principle spell doomsday for millions or thousands of shareholder owned companies or companies owned by groups of shareholders,” he added.
Singhvi pointed to procedural hurdles and external curbs imposed on the internal management of the trusts, questioning administrative interventions that disrupt standard decision-making processes.
“Furthermore, to stymie intra-trust decision making by a very sudden and inexplicable and very mysterious fetter and a hold put by the charity commissioner seems very strange and wrong to me,” Singhvi said.
The senior advocate underlined that established voting thresholds and safeguards inside the trusts were disregarded during recent actions. He maintained that mandatory procedures form the legal backbone of the trust structure and cannot be set aside arbitrarily.
“And then again ignoring the precondition, the unvarying precondition of unanimity in trust, decision making and booting and ignoring the clear veto provisions seems to me to be unjustified,” he stated.
He also referenced the legal precedent set by the Supreme court, observing that binding judicial determinations regarding the governance structure of Tata Sons appear to have been overlooked in the present scenario.
“Sadly, the Supreme Court judgment in the Tata case, where I also had the privilege of appearing, clearly gave Tata Trusts' primacy in its relationship with Tata Sons, which upheld specifically the special articles in that regard, in the articles of Tata Sons. These seem to have been selectively forgotten,” Singhvi remarked.
Singhvi observed that because collegiality and conviviality broke down between the principal actors, judicial adjudication remains the sole path forward to resolve the contest.
On September 17, The Tata Trusts maintained that the resolution to re-appoint N. Chandrasekaran as Chairman, Tata Sons, was illegal. The position was reiterated at the Tata Sons Board meeting, by Noel Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts, following a move to revisit N. Chandrasekaran's reappointment.
"The Board, accordingly, cannot lawfully hold a meeting or pass a resolution on the Chairman's appointment or reappointment unless both nominee directors are present, and cannot validly pass such a resolution unless both nominee directors vote in favour. Given that Mr Noel Tata, being one of the Trust nominee directors, voted against the proposal, it was rendered legally void and without any basis," a statement from the Trust said. (ANI)
“Unthinkable to divorce Tata Trusts and Tata Sons", says Senior SC Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi
