Mehli Mistry, the long-time confidant and friend of Ratan Tata, has decided to step down from two Tata trusts, signalling his desire to end the public spat with Tata Trust chairman Noel Tata, a CNBC-TV18 report said quoting sources.

The reappointment of Mistry, who was the executor of Tata’s will, to Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, could not go through last month due to lack of support from three of the trustees.

According to the report, in a letter addressed to all trustees of the Tata Trusts, including Noel Tata, Mistry emphasised the need to protect the institution from controversy, uphold its founding values and commitment to Ratan N. Tata’s vision, while informing the decision to step down.

“My commitment to Ratan N Tata’s vision includes a responsibility to ensure that the Tata Trusts are not plunged into controversy and that precipitating matters would cause irreparable harm to the reputation of the Tata Trusts,” Mistry said, according to the letter attributed to him.

“Therefore, in the spirit of Ratan N Tata, who always put public interest before his own, I hope that the actions of the other trustees going forward will be guided by the principles of transparency, good governance, and public interest. I part ways with a quote that Ratan N. Tata used to say to me, ‘Nobody is bigger than the institution it serves’,” the letter attributed to Mistry said.