Mumbai: Bombay HC Clarifies Ratan Tata's Shares Not Explicitly Allocated In His Will To Be Equally Split Between 2 Charitable Bodies

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has clarified that the listed and unlisted shares owned by late industrialist Ratan Tata, which were not explicitly allocated in his Will, will be equally distributed between the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation and the Ratan Tata Endowment Trust.

Justice Manish Pitale, presiding over the probate proceedings, disposed of the matter on June 16, ruling on the interpretation of Tata’s original Will dated February 23, 2022, and four subsequent Codicils — the last of which was executed on December 22, 2023. A Codicil is a legal document that modifies or adds to a previously executed Will.

The executors of Tata’s Will had approached the court for clarification on how the unmentioned listed and unlisted shares should be distributed, as these were not directly bequeathed to any individual beneficiary. They highlighted that while certain financial properties were already allocated in Clauses 4 and 8 of the original Will — including to Tata’s sisters, Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, and a close associate, Mohini Dutta — there remained ambiguity about the remaining shares.

Justice Pitale observed that Clause A of Paragraph 13 of the Will directed the “rest and residue” of Tata’s estate to be distributed equally between the charity mentioned in Paragraph 5 and the beneficiaries in Paragraph 8. However, Paragraph 8 had already dealt with specific shares, creating potential confusion.

“It is relevant to note that if the substituted paragraph No.13 as per clause 1 of the fourth Codicil is applied in the context of listed and unlisted shares, paragraph No.8 of the Will already having dealt with the same, would lead to a situation where no listed and unlisted shares of the deceased would be available for the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation and Ratan Tata Endowment Trust,” the court noted.

Interpreting the Will and Codicils harmoniously, the judge relied on provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and Supreme Court rulings. “Since the Codicil will prevail and the Will has to be considered with such alteration/addition… the listed and unlisted shares not specifically covered elsewhere in the Will form part of the rest and residue of his estate and stand bequeathed to the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation and Ratan Tata Endowment Trust in equal shares absolutely,” he ruled.

The court clarified that while the fourth Codicil overrides earlier clauses in relation to the residual shares, it does not affect other specific bequests made in the Will.