bengaluru/mumbai, Nov. 3 -- Senior Supreme Court lawyer Darius Khambata has chosen not to seek another term as a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, the two principal Tata Trusts, and termed "astounding" the Tata Sons directors' rebellion against Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata, which he said is 'a day that will live in infamy'. In a four-page letter sent to Noel and Tata Trusts chief executive officer (CEO) Siddharth Sharma on Monday, Khambata was sharply critical about the Tata Sons board and two fellow Trustees, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh. "The sad events of 17 September 2026, a day that will live in infamy, have sullied Tata Sons' reputation and have imperilled the image of corporate India. No spin doctoring can mask what happened," Khambata wrote. "Would the board of Tata Sons have acted as it did on 17 September, had Ratan Tata still been alive? Of course not. But duties are owed to institutions, not to individuals. And as Ratan Tata used to say, the institution is always bigger than the individual". "In April 2026, contrary to unanimous resolutions they had been party to, Vijay and Venu suddenly told the media, though not their co-trustees, that they favoured listing, disregarding the Trusts' interests. They have not shared their reasons for this volte-face with either," he said. Khambata's stint at both SDTT and SRTT, which own 27.98% and 23.56%, respectively, of Tata Sons, ends later this week. With him leaving, SDTT will have five trustees, while SRTT will have four. Besides Noel, Srinivasan and Singh, SDTT's two other trustees include Noel's son Neville Tata and former Titan Co. CEO Bhaskar Bhat. SRTT's four trustees are Noel, Srinivasan, Pune-based businessman and philanthropist Jehangir H.C. Jehangir, and Jimmy Tata.Khambata also questioned Srinivasan's choice to ignore the Trusts' instructions a day before the 17 September board meeting, where Srinivasan's key vote supporting Tata Sons chair Chandrasekaran helped him secure a third term. "It is now untenable to say that a nominee director of a public charitable trust, particularly a sitting Trustee, may act against the Trust's interests merely because he also owes a duty to the company; he sits on that board precisely to protect the Trusts," Khambata wrote, citing an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court in Tata's earlier case against former chairman Cyrus Mistry. "There cannot be two classes of trustees," he wrote. On the question of listing Tata Sons, Khambata described the Tata model as a "living example of Mahatma Gandhiji's trusteeship idea: India's most famous industrial and charitable group, a national treasure where neither part is important without the other"."That this model is now threatened by those who, ironically citing its success, would decouple Tata Sons from the Trusts, is not objective judgement," he said. Khambata praised Noel's leadership, calling his two-year period 'eventful', which he handled with 'calm dedication'. "My stand and approach has at times differed from others', including Noel's; I appreciate Noel's democratic acceptance of this. That is the old Tata way," Khambata wrote. Khambata's decision not to seek another term at Tata Trusts comes about eight months after former Citibank India head Pramit Jhaveri also chose not to seek reappointment at SDTT. Trustee appointments and reappointments require unanimous approval from all trustees. However, because Srinivasan and Singh's views don't align with those of the other trustees, Khambata's reappointment could have become problematic, according to an executive. For this reason, Khambata, despite being asked by Noel to continue, decided not to seek another term....