Srinivasan quits Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution

New Delhi: Veteran industrialist Venu Srinivasan, a trustee on Tata Trusts, has resigned from the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, according to sources.

Although he cited other business commitments for his resignation from one of the smaller trusts in the Tata Trusts, the development followed a challenge from Mehli Mistry, a former trustee of the Tata Trusts.

Comments from Srinivasan and Tata Trusts could not be obtained immediately.

Mistry had challenged the appointments of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh to the board of Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution in a complaint to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner.

He claimed that Srinivasan and Singh do not satisfy the criteria laid out in the trust deed.

Among Mistry’s main contention was the specific conditions mandated in the deed that includes practice of the Parsi Zoroastrian faith and residency requirements in Mumbai.

Last year, Tata Trusts was rocked by infighting among trustees. The matter reached the government, with the top brass of the Tata group, including Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Subsequently, the government told the trusts to resolve the issue amicably and not let their differences spill into the public, considering the significance of the Tata Group on India’s economy.