The notice emphasizes a potential violation of Section 30A(2) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. It indicates that the Trust currently has six trustees, with three serving as perpetual or lifetime trustees, which represents 50% of the board.
The notice asserts that this situation directly contradicts the legal requirement. Section 30A(2) of the Act clearly states that the number of perpetual trustees “shall not exceed one-fourth of the total number of trustees.”
Furthermore, the notice claims that maintaining the current board structure is unlawful and undermines the legislative objective of preventing the dominance of a small group of lifetime trustees, while promoting greater accountability in the management of public charitable trusts.
It has called upon the Charity Commissioner to arrange an immediate board meeting of the Trust to address the need to correct the alleged infringement by limiting the number of perpetual or lifetime trustees to no more than one, in accordance with the statute.
This development comes in light of recent changes within the Tata Trusts sphere, where the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution has sought to modify a 1923 trust deed that prohibited the appointment of non-Zoroastrians as trustees. This decision follows internal conflicts, including challenges to the eligibility of Venu Srinivasan, Vice Chairman of the Sir Ratan Tata Trusts, and Vijay Singh, with former trustee Mehli Mistry questioning their qualifications based on faith and residency.
Also Read: Tata Trust says Bai Hirabai Trust to amend restrictive clauses that allowed only Zoroastrians to be trustees
