New Delhi, Sept. 20 -- Tata Sons has a governance problem that is getting harder to paper over. The company's board has backed N. Chandrasekaran for another five-year term, defying the position of Tata Trusts, which owns 65.9% of the holding company. But the bigger twist is that Chandrasekaran may not even get the shareholder approval needed to continue as a director.

At Thursday's board meeting, the directors voted 4-1 to recommend Chandrasekaran's reappointment. Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, opposed it, arguing that Chandrasekaran had already announced he would step down after his current term ends in February 2027 and that the Trusts had accepted his decision. Tata Trusts has called the board's move illegal.

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