Tata Sons Chief Chandrasekaran Reconnects With Ousted Trustee Mehli Mistry at Bombay House

MUMBAI — Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran hosted Mehli Mistry at the group's Bombay House headquarters on Thursday, reopening direct channels with the late Ratan Tata's closest confidant following a year of bruising boardroom friction.

Politeness returned to the corner office. Fresh off closing Tata Motors' acquisition of Italian commercial vehicle maker Iveco, Chandrasekaran initiated the closed-door meeting to mend an alliance that once anchored group decision-making. The two men had appeared together days earlier at the wedding celebrations of Mehli's daughter, Laila. But Thursday's sit-down inside Bombay House carried substantive weight—an unmistakable signal that both executives want to resolve internal grievances triggered by the death of patriarch Ratan Tata in October 2024. Mehli departed for Dubai shortly after the talks concluded.

The Post-Ratan Power Shift

Trouble had simmered for months. Following Ratan Tata's death, Noel Tata assumed leadership of Tata Trusts, precipitating a swift realignment of influence across the philanthropic bodies that control a majority stake in Tata Sons. Mehli—a long-standing trustee of the Tata Education and Development Trust who had been inducted into the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) by Ratan Tata himself—soon found himself cornered.

Noel Tata, Tata Trusts vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan, and vice-chairman Vijay Singh ultimately voted Mehli out of both principal trusts. Yet Mehli refused to capitulate quietly. He challenged his ouster before the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner (MCC), where proceedings remain active.

The friction had escalated earlier over corporate governance disclosures. Mehli and fellow trustees Darius Khambata, Pramit Jhaveri, and Jehangir Jehangir had protested that vital Tata Sons operational information under Article 121 of the Articles of Association was being withheld, hobbling their oversight. In response, those four trustees voted Singh off the Tata Sons board. That rebellion prompted Noel, Srinivasan, Khambata, and Chandrasekaran to travel to New Delhi, where they briefed senior Union government officials on the simmering governance impasse.

Communication between Chandrasekaran and Mehli deteriorated swiftly as narratives hardened. Mehli maintained that his pushback was rooted strictly in fiduciary compliance, while Chandrasekaran moved to preserve institutional stability.

The Battle Over February 2027

The stakes extend directly to the executive suite. Chandrasekaran's second five-year term as Tata Sons chairman expires in February 2027, and his reappointment requires board approval and ratifying votes at the annual general meeting. Noel Tata opposed granting Chandrasekaran a third term, setting up a rare governance deadlock. Tata Sons had already failed to hold its scheduled annual general meeting on August 18 after internal alignment broke down.

Yet through the legal and boardroom crossfire, Mehli never withdrew his backing for Chandrasekaran. In official filings submitted to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner, Mehli confirmed he had signed the resolution backing Chandrasekaran for a third term as chairman.