bengaluru/mumbai, Oct. 29 -- Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and vice-chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh have not approved the reappointment of Ratan Tata long-time confidant, Mehli Mistry, as a permanent trustee-setting the stage for a 2016-like battle between the Tatas and ousted Tata Sons chief Cyrus Mistry. It's almost a certainty that Mistry, a first cousin of Cyrus Mistry, will challenge the move in court, potentially plunging the philanthropic entities that control Tata Sons into uncertainty. On Tuesday, Noel Tata, TVS Motor Co. chair emeritus Srinivasan, and former defence secretary Singh voted against Mistry's candidature for trustee for life, according to an executive privy to the development. The three other trustees-former Citibank India chief executive Pramit Jhaveri, Mumbai lawyer Darius Khambata, and Pune-based philanthropist Jehangir H.C. Jehangir-voted in favour. The split vote marks a sharp departure from the recent consensus-driven approach. Just last week, when Srinivasan was appointed a lifelong trustee, four trustees, led by Mistry, had described the move as a "procedural formality", referring to a unanimous decision in October 2024 to grant themselves permanent positions. Under the Trusts' rules, appointments and removals require unanimous consent. The opposition to Mistry presents two immediate challenges for Noel Tata: An impending legal battle and a widening divide among trustees. To be sure, it was Mistry, whose current tenure at both the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) ended on Tuesday, who proposed Noel Tata's candidature as Chairman of Tata Trusts in the board meeting on 11 October 2024, less than 48 hours after Ratan Tata's death. Mistry is expected to legally contest the decision, given that a joint meeting of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) on 17 October 2024 agreed to make all trustees permanent, the executive said. "[I]t needs to be noted that the substantive decision regarding the re-appointment of Mr. Venu Srinivasan and all other Trustees was already taken and approved pursuant to the aforesaid resolution of 17 October 2024 by each of the Trustee's and the resolution proposed in Circular No: 87 dated 18 October 2025 is a formalistic one to give effect to an already taken unanimous decision of the Trustees," Mistry wrote in response to a circular, dated 18 October, seeking re-appointment of Srinivasan, Mint reported last week. Srinivasan was appointed as a permanent trustee after a similar proposal to appoint Noel Tata was approved in January, according to the executive cited above. A top Mumbai lawyer told Mint last week that legal recourse would be within the rights of a trustee who doesn't get reappointed. "Hypothetically, if any trustee fails to get reappointed, then that means the other Trustees have violated the decisions taken on the 17 October 2024 board meeting. That trustee who fails to get reappointed has the right to take legal action against Tata Trusts, said senior Supreme Court lawyer H.P. Ranina. Second, the standoff raises questions about how the Trusts will now achieve consensus. The divide has widened since 11 September, when three trustees-Jhaveri, Khambata, and Jehangir-voted with Mistry to remove Singh as their representative on the board of Tata Sons. The four had expressed unhappiness over what they saw as a lack of transparency in Tata Sons' board decisions, leading to Singh's ouster-a move that exposed deep fissures within the promoter group of India's largest conglomerate, as first reported by Mint on 24 September. Consensus within the Tata Trusts is crucial for Tata Sons, as the holding company of the country's largest conglomerate requires approval from the Trustees for many of its decisions, according to Tata Sons' articles of association. This includes the appointment of directors at Tata Sons and investments exceeding Rs.100 crore. Tata Sons, which is chaired by Natarajan Chandrasekaran, has six board members, including Noel Tata and Srinivasan. Tata Sons group chief financial officer Saurabh Agrawal, and independent directors Harish Manwani and Anita Marangoly George are the other three members. Queries emailed to all seven trustees were unanswered at the time of publishing. After Mistry's ouster, the SRTT has six members, and the SDTT five. At the divided Tata Trusts, Noel Tata, Singh, and Srinivasan are members of both trusts; they hold a majority over Jhaveri and Khambata in the SDTT, and over Khambata and Jehangir in the SRTT. Ratan Tata's brother, Jimmy N. Tata, is the sixth trustee at SRTT, but, due to advancing age, he does not participate in the proceedings of the philanthropic entities. The SRTT and the SDTT own 27.98% and 23.56% of Tata Sons, respectively. The smaller trusts hold the remaining 14.38%, giving the Tata Trusts an ownership of 65.9% of Tata Sons. However, all this could change when the Mistry vs Tata Trusts battle lands in court, which, incidentally, would make Mistry the second person to take on a Tata in less than a decade....