Retract charges or pay Rs 1,000cr: Tata Trusts

MUMBAI: Tata Trusts has demanded petitioner Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede and his lawyer Katyayani Agarwal withdraw allegations of impropriety over a 37-year-old transfer of 833 Tata Sons shares, seeking Rs 1,000 crore in damages for reputational harm and causing distress. The charitable organisations sent notices to both, saying transfer of shares from Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust to the late Naval Tata was approved by boards of both organisations, vetted by late jurist Nani Palkhivala, and undertaken for a consideration, a year after Naval’s resignation from NRTT .The action follows a complaint Patilkhede filed with the Maharashtra charity commissioner, seeking an inquiry into the Jan 1989 share transfer. Patilkhede alleged the transfer was unlawful as it moved shares from a public charitable trust to a private individual, that no trustee resolution authorised it, that no transfer deed existed and that it was done for nil consideration. The 833 shares are now held by Naval’s three sons – the late Ratan Tata, Jimmy Tata and Noel Tata.In a statement on Friday, Trusts described Patilkhede as a “serial litigator” whose allegations appeared aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the Trusts and Tata family.