New Delhi, Sept. 24 -- Amid the escalating governance dispute between Tata Sons and its majority shareholder Tata Trusts over key board decisions, an April 2025 legal opinion by former Supreme Court judge Justice R.F. Nariman has come into focus, holding that directors nominated by the Trusts to the Tata Sons board cannot merely follow the Trustees' directions and must exercise independent judgment in discharging their duties as company directors.

The opinion, dated April 13, 2025, was given by Justice Nariman while examining a proposed protocol under which nominee directors of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust would be required to vote or abstain in accordance with guidance received from the Trustees. The protocol stemmed ...