New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- Tata Trusts and its vice-chairman Vijay Singh have sharply differed over a remark about Singh in a recent order by the Maharashtra charity commissioner, exposing the rift within the philanthropic entities controlling India's largest conglomerate.

On 2 September, the commissioner dismissed a petition challenging a 1989 transaction involving Tata Sons shares. Singh had sought an investigation into the transaction on 10 June, two days after Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust (NRTT) where he is a trustee approved the transaction, prompting the commissioner to remark that Singh's conduct "was unbecoming of a trustee."

The ruling is significant for Singh because he was not an outside complainant challenging the Trusts from afar; ...