Tata Trusts has stated that there are no legal barriers preventing non-Zoroastrians from serving as trustees at the Bai Hirabai JN Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, following a challenge from trustee Mehli Mistry regarding the eligibility of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh. In an internal note to Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, CEO Siddharth Sharma referenced a 2000 opinion by former Chief Justice of India MH Kania, which deemed certain restrictive clauses in the trust deed as legally invalid. This clarification comes after Mistry's resignation as a trustee, which reduced the board to five members, the minimum required. The current board includes Noel Tata, Jimmy Tata, Darius Khambata, Jehangir H Jehangir, and Vijay Singh, the only non-Zoroastrian trustee. Mistry had previously backed off from challenging the leadership after his reappointment was not approved by a majority of trustees. He argued that Srinivasan and Singh did not meet eligibility criteria outlined in the trust deed, which he claimed requires trustees to be Zoroastrian and permanent residents of Mumbai. The Bai Hirabai JN Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, established in 1923, focuses on education and healthcare initiatives for the Parsi community in Navsari, Gujarat.