A petition filed in the Bombay High Court (BHC) by Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustees (chairwoman) Armaity Tirandaz, Viraf Mehta and Xerxes Dastur praying that a trustee’s term be reduced from seven to five years and the total number of years a trustee can serve be limited to 10 is expected to be heard in early January 2022.
From l: Petitioners Armaity Tirandaz, Viraf Mehta,
Xerxes Dastur: ploy to delay March 2022 elections?
All the five present trustees had agreed to the reforms when signing the consent terms in October 2021 but co-trustees Noshir Dadrawala and Kersi Randeria are shown as respondents along with the Charity Commissioner. While two vacancies exist on the BPP board, the five trustees had in the consent terms agreed to step down once the new board was elected on March 27.
An earlier appeal before a division bench of the BHC urging the trusteeship election be held on March 27, 2022 and that the consent terms be taken on record is also expected to be heard in early January. Since Mehta had made the holding of elections conditional to the electoral reforms being passed, a single judge had refused to take the terms on record.
It is alleged that the second petition is a ploy to delay the March 27 elections since Mehta had made the holding of elections conditional on the reforms being passed by the Court.
When asked on December 23, 2021 via WhatasApp for their comments on the allegations, Tirandaz and Mehta chose not to reply while Dastur said he was told that Dadrawala and Randeria "were not willing to sign this amendment… Wish we would all get on with the consent terms and move on.”
When asked if the amendment would delay the election, he replied, "I hope not. We all need to push and get the amendment done. As far as I am concerned, I would also like the elections the earliest we can do them. Whether it is for all seats or just two.”
According to the grapevine, Mehta’s father, former BPP chairman Dinshaw, is not keen that only two seats be contested as he reportedly does not have candidates who may be able to defeat the two opposition favorites, World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis chief executive officer Anahita Desai and Cusrow Baug United Sports and Welfare League honorary secretary Hoshang Jal. He would prefer the elections be held in October 2022 when three more seats, those of Dadrawala, Randeria and Viraf become vacant. Tirandaz and Dastur’s terms expire after those of the other three. The other vacancies have been pending for over a year.
An agreement to hold elections for all seven BPP trusteeship seats with the present board of five resigning once the new board is elected on March 27 appears more and more remote.