Tata Sons defends Chandrasekaran reappointment amid dispute

Tata Sons has told Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata that its board’s September 17 decision to reappoint N. Chandrasekaran for a further five-year term was valid, citing legal opinions and the chairman’s casting vote. Tata Trusts disputes that interpretation, saying the resolution lacked the required support from its nominee directors. The competing positions leave the validity of the reappointment unresolved in the reported exchange. In a September 24 response to Noel Tata, Tata Sons said the board acted under the company’s Articles of Association. The company cited three legal opinions, including those of former Supreme Court judges U.U. Lalit and B.N. Srikrishna. The opinions, as described by Tata Sons, supported its position that the board vote was tied and that the chairman could use a casting vote to resolve it. Tata Trusts has said one of its two nominee directors voted against the reappointment, so a majority of its nominees did not support the decision. It argues that the Articles require affirmative support from a majority of Trust-nominated directors as a separate condition, and that the chairman’s casting vote cannot override that requirement.