Mumbai: Senior advocate and longtime Tata Trusts trustee Darius J. Khambata didn’t hold back in his letter dated November 10, 2025. He called out claims that the September 11 meeting was some sort of planned 'coup' in the Trusts, calling the idea 'absurd,' as reported by Moneycontrol.
Khambata laid it out clearly: That meeting was just a routine annual review. The main focus? How the Trusts are represented on the Tata Sons board by their nominee directors. Nothing about trying to grab control.
He wanted to clear the air, especially after trustee Mehli Mistry’s recent departure stirred up concern. Sure, people disagreed about some things—Khambata admitted as much—but there was no secret plot. In fact, he pointed out that he’d turned down Ratan Tata twice when asked to become a trust nominee director. For him, sitting on the board means responsibility, not prestige.
Khambata also made it clear there’s no bad blood with Vijay Singh, the former defence secretary whose nomination got blocked at that meeting. After everything, only two nominees—Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan—were left on the Tata Sons board.
In his letter, Khambata brought up a bigger issue: his disagreement with Mehli Mistry about the possible exit of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SPG), which owns 18.37 percent of Tata Sons. Khambata warned that if SPG left, Tata Sons could end up facing a public listing, which might shake up how much control the Trusts have.
After the September 11 meeting, Khambata said he immediately pushed for a joint statement to show everyone was behind Noel Tata’s leadership. He tried again just before Ratan Tata’s death anniversary, but some trustees didn’t respond—and he was clearly disappointed.
Even with the disagreements, Khambata acknowledged Mistry’s dedication to the Trusts over the years. Still, with divisions lingering, it’s anyone’s guess whether this call for unity will actually bring the Trusts together.
