EXPLAINED: Mehli Mistry out of Tata Trust, why was he involved with Ratan’s step brother Noel, what is the whole politics?

In 1868, Jamsetji Tata started India’s largest and oldest business group ‘Tata’. Today it is an empire worth more than 180 billion dollars i.e. 15 lakh crore rupees, which has more than 30 companies. It is said about Tata that buy any of its shares, it will definitely give you profit. But the biggest loss from this company has been to Mehli Mistry, who was close to Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata’s half brother Noel Tata ousted Mistry from the Tata Trust. Now once again the discussion about Tata vs Mistry has intensified.

So let us understand in ABP Explainer what is the story of the dispute between Tata and Mistry, why the position of trustee was snatched from Mistry and how important it is to remain in Tata Trust…

Question 1- What is Tata Group and what is the role of Tata Trust in it?
answer- Jamsetji Tata founded the Tata Group in 1868. It is the largest multinational company of India. Its 30 companies do business in more than 100 countries of the world. The total revenue of all Tata Group companies in 2024-25 was Rs 15.34 lakh crore. It provides employment to more than 11.5 lakh people. Its products are included in our lives from morning to evening. The company makes everything from tea leaves to watches, cars and airplanes.

Tata Trust holds 66% stake in Tata Group, Mistry family holds 18.4%, Tata Group Company holds 13% and others hold 2.6%. Total in Tata Trusts 15 institutions There are, but the two biggest and most powerful are – Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) And Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT)SDTT 1932 (in memory of Dorabji Tata) and in this Tata Sons holds 23.56% stake Is. SRTT 1919 (in memory of Ratan Tata’s father) and in Tata Sons holds 27.98% stake Is. Overall these two trusts more than 51% share Keep.

• Often people consider Tata Sons and Tata Group to be the same, but it is not so. Both are different. Tata Sons is the holding company of Tata Group. It is said about Tata Group that it makes everything from needles to airplanes. There are more than 100 companies in the Tata Group, all of which are controlled by Tata Sons. Tata Sons’ stake in all the major companies of the group ranges from 25 to 73%. The maximum stake of 73% is in Tata Investment Corporation.
• Jamsetji Tata founded Tata & Sons in 1887. After his death in 1904, his sons Sir Dorab, Sir Ratan and cousin JRD Tata merged the company and formed Tata Sons. Sir Ratan Tata died in 1919. His 40% stake in Tata Sons went to Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT).
• Sir Dorab Tata died in 1932 and his 40% stake also came to Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). In this way, Tata Trust’s stake in Tata Sons became 80%.
• In 1991, Ratan Tata was appointed chairman of Tata Sons. In 1996, the trust’s stake in Tata Sons came down to 66%.

You can also assume that Tata Trust controls Tata Sons and Tata Sons is the holding of all Tata companies. That means being its chairman is not a common thing.

Question 2- Who is Mehli Mistry and what was his connection with Tata Group?
answer- Mehli Mistry is a 65 year old low-profile industrialist. He is the head of M Pallonji Group, whose revenue is around Rs 900 crore. He is the first cousin of Cyrus Mistry. But in the 2016 dispute between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry, Mehli supported Ratan Tata. He had bought Tata Power shares worth Rs 200 crore to show solidarity.

Mehli was Ratan’s friend since the age of 10. He was the director of Ratan’s personal investment firm RNT Associates. In 2024, Mehli was made the executor in Ratan’s will and was given Alibaug property and 3 ancient firearms (heirlooms of the Tata family). In 2022, Ratan Tata made him the trustee of SDTT and SRTT.

Question 3- What changes happened in Tata Trusts after the death of Ratan Tata and what is the role of Noel Tata?
answer- Ratan Tata died on 9 October 2024 and Noel Naval Tata was made the chairman of Tata Trusts in a joint meeting in Mumbai on 11 October. Noel has been in Tata Group for 40 years.

A unanimous resolution was passed in the board meeting on 17 October. It was decided that after the tenure of the trustee is over, re-appointment will be without limit with everyone’s consent, meaning lifetime trusteeship. It was passed by the Executive Committee (Noel Tata, Mehli Mistry, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh). The resolution said, ‘If any trustee votes against these principles, there will be a break of commitment.’ This was for stability after the death of Ratan Tata.

Question 4- What was the tradition of voting in Tata Trusts and how was it broken?
answer- The more than 100 year old tradition of Tata Trusts was to take decisions unanimously. Ratan Tata used to say that consensus and unanimity are necessary. Voting never took place. Majority voting is allowed in SDTT deed, but unanimity in SRTT. Its breakdown began on 11 September 2025, when the voting for the reappointment of Vijay Singh on the Tata Sons board was rejected 4-2. This revealed the internal rift of the company.

Question 5- What was the incident of ousting Mehli Mistry? How was the voting? Who opposed and who supported?
answer- On October 28, Mehli’s 3-year tenure ended due to circular resolution (e-mail voting) in Mumbai. He was rejected by a vote of 3-2. Three trustees Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh voted against the re-appointment.

Three others – Prameet Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jahangir HC Jahangir – were in favor of Mehli’s reappointment, while Ratan Tata’s brother Jimmy Tata abstained from voting. Since this resolution was related to Mehli himself, he did not take part in the voting.

The two main charity arms of Tata Trusts – SDTT and SRTT – have different voting systems. According to the trust deed, a simple majority is sufficient in SDTT, but in SRTT everyone should have a unanimous opinion. However, for the appointment or removal of trustees, everyone’s consent is necessary in any case. Based on these rules, Mehli’s three-year tenure ended on Tuesday.

Mistry was the trustee of SDTT and SRTT since 2022. Both these trusts have the right to nominate one-third of the members on the board of Tata Sons.

Question 6- Why was Mehli Mistry targeted? What is this whole controversy?
answer- Understand the entire controversy of Tata Group in 5 points…

• This whole quarrel started with the meeting of Tata Trusts held on 11th September. In this, there was to be a discussion on re-appointing former Defense Secretary Vijay Singh as nominee director on the board of Tata Sons. But Singh did not come to the meeting.
• After the death of former Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata on October 9, 2024, the trusts had decided that nominee directors on the Tata Sons board will have to be re-appointed every year after the age of 75 years. 77 year old Singh was playing this role since 2012.
• This resolution of re-appointment was put forward by Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan. But the remaining four people – Mehli Mistry, Pramit Jhaveri, Jahangir HC Jahangir and Darius Khambata flatly refused. Since these four were in majority, the resolution was cancelled.
• After this, these trustees tried to propose Mehli Mistry as a nominee on the Tata Sons board. But Noel Tata and Srinivasan stopped him. As soon as the meeting ended, Singh himself resigned from the Tata Sons board.
• The four trustees led by Mehli Mistry are associated with the Shapoorji Pallonji family. This family has 18.37% stake in Tata Sons. According to PTI, Mehli has expressed his displeasure at being kept out of important decisions. The center of the dispute is the directorship posts in Tata Sons.

Actually, Mehli had raised questions on information sharing of Tata Sons board meetings. He is against Tata Sons listing. Apart from this, Noel wants to bring new thinking in the company, but Mehli follows the legacy of Ratan Tata.

Question 7- Will Mehli Mistry challenge the eviction in court?
answer- According to media reports, Mehli Mistry is preparing to take legal action. At the same time, if sources are to be believed, there is an internal debate going on whether Mistry will withdraw the approval of Srinivasan or challenge the decision of not approving his reinstatement in the court. Some reports say that Noel Tata, Srinivasan and Singh have taken legal advice on this. But a trustee clearly said that the conditional approval cannot stand legally. Once any resolution is passed, it cannot be withdrawn. This is not legally correct.

Question 8- What will be the effect of Mehli Mistry’s exit?
answer- Mehli’s departure will bring new nominations to the Tata Sons board. Perhaps the Noel camp will have the upper hand. This raises questions on the unity of the trusts. The old dispute with Shapoorji Pallonji Group i.e. SP Group may heat up again.