Probe stalls transfer of Ratan Tata’s Tata Sons shares to his foundations

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Bengaluru/Mumbai: The transfer of the late Ratan Tata’s shares in Tata Sons to two charitable foundations he created has been thrown into uncertainty after a complaint over the ownership of some of those shares triggered an investigation by the Maharashtra charity commissioner, potentially delaying the implementation of one of the country’s most closely watched wills.

The situation has left the four executors of Tata’s will—including his half-sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, lawyer Darius Khambata and long-time confidant Mehli Mistry—unable to transfer the 3,368 Tata Sons shares to the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation (RTEF) and the Ratan Tata Endowment Trust (RTET), according to an executive familiar with the matter.

“The issue is that we don’t know the details of the case and have come to know about it through newspaper reports,” said the executive, requesting anonymity. “(But) we cannot transfer the shares if their ownership is being contested and is being probed by a regulator.”

The investigation stems from a complaint in May 2026 by Sunil Patilkhede—through his lawyer Katyayani Agrawal—that 833 equity shares of Tata Sons were transferred in 1989 from the Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust to Naval H. Tata, without proper consideration, trustee approval, or valid documentation.

Those shares were later inherited by his sons Ratan Tata, Noel Tata (chairman of Tata Trusts), and Jimmy Tata. Mint independently could not ascertain how many of the 833 shares Ratan Tata inherited from his father.

Following the legal notice, former defence secretary Vijay Singh asked the Maharashtra charity commissioner to investigate the claims about this 37-year-old share transfer.

Tata Trusts had dismissed the allegations in its response before the Maharashtra charity commissioner on 5 June.

“It is affirmed that the transaction was lawful, undertaken for consideration, and fully compliant with the rules in force at that point of time. It was cleared at the appropriate levels, including by the late Mr Nani A. Palkhivala, one of the country’s most distinguished lawyers, and approved by the then Board of Tata Sons. The transfer of shares was effected on a valid transfer form duly stamped by the Registrar of Companies,” Tata Trusts said in a statement dated 5 June.

In an email response to Mint, Mehli Mistry, one of the executors of Tata’s will, said everything would be undertaken as per legal process and the wishes of the late Ratan Tata.

“In so far as the allegations are concerned about the Tata Sons shares, I am not aware of any such illegality yet,” he said.

The charity commissioner has yet to pronounce its verdict on this complaint, even as it has asked Sir Ratan Tata Trust, one of the two principal Tata Trusts, not to undertake any meetings after another complaint over the board composition.

Calls and text messages to the charity commissioner, Amogh Kaloti, seeking comment went unanswered.

Ratan Tata had set up RTEF and RTET before he passed away on 9 October 2024, and had sought the 3,368 Tata Sons shares to be equally given to the two entities.

RTEF counts Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, former Tata Group executive Raghavan Shastri, and another former Trust employee Burzis Taraporevala as board members. The foundation has no members from the Tata family.

RTET has Noel Tata, Shireen and Deanna, former Citibank India employee Pramit Jhaveri, Shastri and Jamsheed Poncha, a senior executive at Tata Sons.

These Tata Sons shares were part of nearly ₹10,000 crore in wealth that Ratan Tata had sought to give to friends and family members.

Many of his financial assets, including fixed deposits from banks and luxury watches and paintings, were given to his half-sisters Shireen and Deanna. A former employee, Mohini M. Dutta, got about ₹200 crore from Tata’s will.

Ratan Tata also left 25% of his share of the Juhu-based bungalow to his brother, ...