MUMBAI: Tata Sons will hold its board meeting mid-Sept when directors are expected to formally take note of chairman N Chandrasekaran’s decision not to seek another term and begin the succession process with principal shareholder Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT)’s endorsement of the move, people aware of the matter said.The meeting will convene nearly a month after Tuesday’s Tata Sons annual general meeting, which is expected to be adjourned because of a regulatory freeze on another key shareholder, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT).The people aware of the issue cautioned against interpreting Chandrasekaran’s Aug 12 decision as a resignation, saying he had notified the board that he does not wish to be considered for another term when his current tenure ends on Feb 20, 2027.“It is an intimation in advance,” one of the people said. “The directors could choose to ask him to reconsider, or begin the formal process of identifying his successor.” It remains unclear how either course — asking Chandrasekaran to reconsider, or beginning the succession process — would work in practice. Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts and a key Tata Sons board member, does not support Chandrasekaran continuing.At the same time, the succession process cannot formally begin while the regulatory ban on SRTT remains in place, unless it is lifted before the Sept 17 board meeting.At Tata Sons’ Feb 24 meeting, four of the six-member board endorsed Chandrasekaran’s chairmanship extension. Noel Tata was the only one who did not support the proposal.Chandrasekaran himself did not participate in the discussion because of conflict of interest. In the absence of unanimous support, Chandrasekaran said he did not want to continue.The regulatory freeze has barred SRTT from participating in both the succession process and the AGM. Tata Sons’ Articles of Association mandate a representative jointly nominated by SRTT and SDTT at the AGM. SRTT had asked the public charities regulator to lift the ban, while SDTT cited its inability to jointly nominate a representative with SRTT for the AGM.If quorum, including the SRTT-SDTT joint representative, is not present within 30 minutes of the appointed time, the AGM stands adjourned. However, the next time the AGM is convened, it would still require that joint nominee. Under the Companies Act, the meeting can be adjourned until December.One of the agenda items at the AGM is the reappointment of Chandrasekaran as a director.SRTT and SDTT approval is critical for Chandrasekaran: though his chairmanship runs until Feb 2027, it is contingent on him remaining a director — if he is not reappointed at the AGM, his chairmanship ends.Likewise for the new chairman selection committee, which should comprise five people – but the catch is that Tata Sons’ Articles mandate that at least three people be jointly chosen by SRTT and SDTT. So while SDTT has started the succession process, it cannot move forward until the order against SRTT is lifted.