HC refuses to halt Tata Trust meeting

MUMBAI: The Sir Ratan Tata Trust’s board meeting will go ahead as scheduled on Friday after the Bombay high court refused an urgent hearing of a petition seeking a stay on the proceedings.The petition, filed by Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede, a 61-year-old Thane resident, had sought to block the meeting and bar the SRTT trustees from taking or implementing decisions on appointments and governance after his complaint to the Maharashtra charity commissioner went unanswered. He had alleged that the current SRTT board is unlawful under a 2025 amendment to the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.SRTT, which had filed a caveat to ensure no interim order was passed without hearing it, informed the court through its counsel Janak Dwarkadas that the matter had already been mentioned on Wednesday and urgent listing declined. The court too was not satisfied about the urgency and observed that the matter could not be repeatedly mentioned for identical reliefs. Former Madras high court chief justice T Raja, appearing for Patilkhede, sought liberty to approach the vacation bench, with the court clarifying that no separate permission was necessary. The court goes into a summer recess from Saturday. Patilkhede could approach the vacation bench if he is grieved by the Friday decisions of SRTT. Friday’s meeting is set to review the nominees of SRTT and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust on the Tata Sons board, in which the two trusts hold a controlling 52% stake. The deliberations could result in the removal of vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan from the Tata Sons board.