MUMBAI: Mehli Mistry, whose reappointment on Tata Trusts boards was denied by a majority decision last week, filed a caveat before the charity commissioner in Mumbai Saturday requesting an opportunity to be heard before any decision on a change is sanctioned.Mistry, executor of Ratan Tata‘s will, has also sent the caveat notice to all trustees of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Navsari Charitable Institution, including chairman Noel Tata, whose wife Aloo is his first cousin.Rules require the Trusts to file a report with the charity commissioner on the changes within 90 days. Once the charity commissioner accepts the new board composition, only then can the Trusts make changes in the signatories of their bank accounts, official correspondence, etc. Charity commissioner is the first judicial forum where grievances related to public charities are taken up.A caveat is filed to protect the petitioner’s interest to ensure that he is notified of the proceedings and has an opportunity to participate in the hearings before any order by the charity commissioner is passed in the particular matter, said senior Supreme Court advocate HP Ranina. In other words, a caveat is a notice not to sanction a change in the board of trustees without Mistry’s submissions. Tata Trusts will also present their arguments before the charity commissioner.

At Tata Trusts, reappointment of a trustee requires unanimous consent of all trustees. Mistry, who was inducted into the boards of Tata Trusts by Ratan Tata in Oct 2022 for three years, had a tenure which expired on October 28, 2025. On October 23, the Trusts circulated a circular seeking trustees’ consent on his reappointment as a permanent trustee. Noel and Trusts’ vice chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh denied Mistry’s continuation, while three other trustees, Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jehangir Jehangir, favoured his reappointment. Ratan Tata’s brother Jimmy Tata abstained from participation. Since there was no unanimity, Mistry’s trusteeship was not renewed.Ranina told TOI that Mistry’s defence before the charity commissioner will be the unanimous October 17, 2024 resolution passed by the trustees that they all will be reappointed as permanent trustees as and when their existing tenures expire. Ranina said any resolution passed by the Trusts is binding on the public charities according to the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act and the Trusts’ deeds. If Trusts want to revoke the October 17 resolution, then they will have to call a meeting and all the trustees will have to unanimously rescind it, Ranina added.However, a trustee who didn’t support Mistry’s reappointment, had said that the October 17 resolution cannot be interpreted as a procedural formality, which undermines the trustees’ fiduciary duties and runs contrary to the law. Senior advocate Devdatt Kamat said Mistry would need to show how due process in conducting the vote rejecting his reappointment was impaired or if there was a mala fide action or if the trust deed was breached since much would also depend on the deed.Senior counsel Shekhar Naphade said the “jurisdiction of the charity commissioner is very limited and confined only to the genuineness and it is not for the charity commissioner to decide the wisdom or its propriety, but if it leads to a deadlock or issues of any alleged mal-administration, the charity commissioner can step in. Otherwise the Trust is entitled to manage its own affairs in terms of its trust deed.If a trusteeship is not renewed, it constitutes a change in composition of the board of trustees which requires under Sec 22 to be formally and mandatorily reported to the charity commissioner via a change report within 90 days of the change that occurred.”The law also provides for provisional acceptance by the deputy or assistant charity commissioner of the change report within 15 working days of it being filed and for a notice to be issued inviting objections to such change within 30 days from the notice date. The Maharashtra Public Trusts Act provides that if no objections are received the change becomes final, but if objections are made, the deputy charity commissioner “may” hold an inquiry and give a finding in three months.Bombay high court in an Oct 2025 judgment held that in a dispute over management of affairs of a trust, an inquiry would determine the lawful appointment or removal of a trustee and a member removed from the trust could legitimately intervene.

China will begin easing an export ban on automotive computer chips vital to production of cars across the world as part of a trade deal struck between the US and China, the White House has said.

The White House confirmed details of the deal in a new fact sheet after Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in South Korea this week.

The nations also reached agreements on US soybean exports, the supply of rare earth minerals, and the materials used in production of the drug fentanyl.

The deal de-escalates a trade war between the world’s two largest economies after Trump hit China with tariffs after he entered office this year, leading to rounds of retaliatory tariffs and global business uncertainty.

Chinese Embassy in Washington spokesman Liu Pengyu told the BBC in a statement that details of the agreements reached had been shared by “competent authorities”.

“China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature,” he said.

“As President Xi Jinping noted, the business relationship should continue to serve as the anchor and driving force for China-US relations, not a stumbling block or a point of friction.”

Speaking on Sunday following the release of the deal details, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN: “We don’t want to decouple from China… (But) they’ve shown themselves to be an unreliable partner.”

Much of what is in Saturday’s fact sheet was announced by Trump and other officials following the meeting between the two leaders.

Trump had described the talks, held in South Korea, as “amazing”, while Beijing had said they had reached a consensus to resolve “major trade issues”.

One of the issues addressed in the deal was the export of automotive computer chips. There had been concern that a lack of chips from Nexperia, which has production facilities in China, could create global supply chain issues.

Nexperia is a Chinese-owned company, but is based in the Netherlands. About 70% of Nexperia chips made in Europe are sent to China to be completed and re-exported to other countries.

The fact sheet states that China will “take appropriate measures to ensure the resumption of trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China, allowing production of critical legacy chips to flow to the rest of the world”.

It follows Beijing saying on Saturday that it was considering exempting some firms from the ban.

Last month, the likes of Volvo Cars and Volkswagen warned a chip shortage could lead to temporary shutdowns at their plants, and Jaguar Land Rover said the lack of chips posed a threat to their business.

On other key issues, Beijing will now pause export controls it brought in last month on rare earth minerals – vital in the production of cars, planes and weapons – for a year.

The White House also said it would lower tariffs brought in to curb the import of fentanyl into the US, with China agreeing to take “significant measures” to deal with the issue.

Fentanyl is a synthetic drug manufactured from a combination of chemicals, and while it is approved for medical use in the US, the powerful and highly-addictive substance has since become the main drug responsible for opioid overdose deaths in the US.

The chemicals used in its manufacturing, some of which have legitimate uses, are mostly sourced from China.

On soybeans, China has committed to buying 12 million tonnes of US soybeans in the last two months of 2025, and 25 million metric tonnes in each of the following three years – which is roughly the level they were previously at.

China’s decision to stop purchasing soybeans from the US earlier this year denied American farmers access to their largest export market.

In response, Trump revived a bailout for farmers which was in place during his first term in office.