Khambata clarifies

"I’m not aware of any ‘succession planning’ in the Tata Trusts nor have they asked for any advice regarding ‘succession planning,’” senior counsel Darius Khambata clarified in a communication with Parsiana on September 16, 2022. The Economic Times (ET) of September 8 claimed the former advocate general of Maharashtra and erstwhile additional solicitor general of India had been "roped in” by the Trusts to provide "advice on corporate governance and succession planning.” "I would prefer not to comment on the content of the news item that appeared in the ET… I had also clarified this to ET and they made that correction in their web publications of the article,” wrote the senior jurist, an authority on constitutional matters, corporate laws and taxation. The online version did not have a reference to succession planning.

Darius Khambata

Quoting unnamed people close to the development, ET stated that the Trusts are consulting legal experts to "examine the possibility of including a specific clause in the trust deeds to the effect that the same person cannot head (the Trusts) as well as Tata Sons.” The testaments left behind by the founders of the Trusts do not carry any such stipulation and in the past both J. R. D. Tata as well as Ratan Tata held the posts simultaneously. The report noted that amending the trust deeds will be a long procedure involving the trustees, directors and shareholders.
The Tata Trusts, including the Sir Ratan Tata and Allied Trusts and the Sir Dorabji Tata and Allied Trusts, reportedly hold about two-thirds of the equity capital of Tata Sons. Khambata has been a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in the past, but quit in 2016 citing increasing professional commitments, noted ET. Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was ousted as chairman of Tata Sons at that time.