Harish Salve, Abhishek Manu Singhvi weigh in on Tata boardroom battle

Senior advocates Harish Salve and Abhishek Manu Singhvi have commented on the ongoing battle between Tata Sons and Tata Trusts. Salve is expected to represent Tata Sons, while Singhvi will be the lead lawyer for Tata Trusts or Noel Tata. Singhvi stated that shareholder rights cannot be nullified in the way they have been. The Tata Sons board approved a five-year term for chairman N Chandrasekaran, despite Noel Tata's opposition.

Trust nominee Venu Srinivasan voted in favor of the move. The board decided to proceed with a public listing after the RBI rejected Tata Sons' application for deregistration. Salve, a former Solicitor General of India, described the Tata Group as India's largest corporate enterprise, emphasizing its global standing. He argued that a global institution must refresh itself and bring in the best talent.

Singhvi, a Rajya Sabha member, is advising Tata Trusts and regretted that the issues could not be resolved amicably, citing the 2021 Supreme Court judgment in the Tata-Mistry case. Tata Trusts stated that the September 17 resolution is void and that Article 121 of the Articles of Association requires the affirmative vote of a majority of Trust-nominated directors.