Tata Trusts Dispute: Was Vijay Singh’s Removal Linked to Auditors’ Red Flag?

Months before Vijay Singh’s removal from the Tata Sons board, Tata Trusts had reportedly sought a formal legal opinion on the remuneration for his role on the board. In May this year, auditors had questioned whether this income should be passed on to the Trusts.

Auditors of Tata Trusts raised questions about the commissions and remuneration received by Singh, who is a trustee of the Trusts and until September was also a nominee director on the board of Tata Sons, the group’s holding company.

Auditors' red flag and Trusts seeking legal opinion has now been reported by Moneycontrol citing company documents.

Following auditors concern, Trust asked senior advocate Percy Pardiwala to examine whether Singh’s income was legal and if it should belong to him personally or be paid to Tata Trusts.

Pardiwala, as per the report, has concluded that all payments received by Singh were lawful, followed governance norms, and did not violate Trusts' rules or the duties of a nominee director. The opinion found no irregularities in the payments.

The question mainly revolved around whether a trustee serving as a nominee director can keep commissions paid by Tata Sons. Dilip J Thakkar of audit firm Jayantilal Thakkar & Co told one of the Trustee of that remuneration earned in such a role should be credited to the Trusts and this differing view led to the legal review, as per the report.

Records, as per the Moneycontrol report, show that Singh earned a total of ₹20.13 crore between financial year 2013-14 and financial year 2024-25 from Tata Sons and other Tata group companies. The largest share, ₹15.89 crore, came from Tata Sons, where he served two separate terms as a director. His annual earnings from Tata Sons increased in recent years, reaching ₹3.2 crore in FY25.

Singh also earned income from Tata Advanced Systems, Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures and Tata Sikorsky Aerospace, mainly for his work in the group’s fast-growing aerospace and defence businesses. These payments were not questioned by auditors and were not part of the legal opinion.

At the same time, disclosures reportedly showed that Singh did not receive any payments from certain other Tata-linked entities, including Tata Boeing Aerospace and Tata Cancer Care Foundation, despite holding positions there.

Deepening Trusts Divide

About four months after this episode, Singh resigned from his role as a nominee director of Tata Sons, though the reason given at the time did not include the auditors’ red flag.

It was reported that trustees split into two groups during a meeting on September 11. It was on Singh's reappointment to the Tata Sons board. One group of trustees, led by Mehli Mistry, voted against his reappointment, reportedly claiming that the current set of directors was not transparent enough in sharing information from the Tata Sons board with the Trusts. Following the disagreement, Singh tendered his resignation.

While he stepped down from the Tata Sons board, he continues to remain a trustee.

what followed was months of internal rift which partly ended with, Mehli Mistry, a close associate of the late Ratan Tata, stepping down from Tata Trusts. Notably, Srinivasan, who is also a Tata Trusts nominee on several Tata boards, has not taken any remuneration from Tata group companies.