Indian conglomerate Tata Sons rejects controlling charities' illegality claims in letter, sources say

​Indian conglomerate Tata Sons on Thursday ​told its controlling charities' chief ‌Noel ​Tata that its decision to appoint N. Chandrasekaran as chairman was legally correct and in line with the company's ‌internal governance framework, two sources with direct knowledge of the letter told Reuters.

The letter is the conglomerate's first formal response to questions from the controlling charities collectively known as the Tata Trusts ‌and follows a week of public statements and interviews from the two sides ‌defending their positions. The boardroom split over Chandrasekaran's reappointment for a five-year term has set off competing claims on the decision making process within the 158-year-old Tata group, and the rift has since grown into ⁠the ​biggest crisis for ⁠the conglomerate in recent years.

In response to Tata Trusts' allegations of Chandrasekaran's reappointment violating the company's internal governance ⁠rules, Tata Sons in its letter defended the decision and cited three legal opinions from lawyers ​and former top court judges in its favour, the two sources added. Tata Sons and ⁠Tata Trusts did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

“Tata Trusts' legal team ⁠is ​vetting the company response,” one of the two sources said. Noel Tata was informed that the board directors acted in accordance with their responsibility to the company in ⁠the matter of Chandrasekaran's appointment, the two sources told Reuters.

The controlling charities own 66% of ⁠the shares in ⁠Tata Sons and have argued that the appointment was not valid without the majority support of its nominee directors.