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The imbroglio over the date of holding of trusteeship elections to the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) got murkier, with minority trustees Noshir Dadrawala and Kersi Randeria publicly decrying yet another postponement of the election date by the majority trustees, Armaity Tirandaz, Viraf Mehta and Xerxes Dastur. "I was ignored and outvoted… Embarrassing but true,” noted Randeria on August 4, 2021 after a meeting of the apex body that "overturned the unanimous resolution passed by all five trustees exactly two weeks ago of holding the (trusteeship) elections on October 17” (see "BPP October elections,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, August 7-20, 2021).  Randeria communicated this on a community chat group. "On the same day when Bombay reported its lowest number (of coronavirus cases) in five months (147 days) three BPP trustees on the insistence of Viraf Mehta” overturned this decision, he rued.
The elections, necessitated by the death of Zarir Bhathena in June 2020 and the resignation of chairman Yazdi Desai in December of that year, had been initially scheduled for March 14, 2021 but under the guise of the pandemic were postponed by the three majority trustees to May 23. Due to the lockdown subsequently announced in the state, the elections could not be held then.
 Randeria noted that Mehta "thinks things (cases of infections) will be better in November… Politics in the name of protecting the community,” he noted. Randeria stated that the board was "legally bound to approach the High Court and is in contempt of the Court and should announce the elections (as unanimously approved and as required to do by the High Court order) and keep a close eye on the Covid case trends and once again postpone the elections if the cases go up and we need to postpone.”
The other minority trustee, Dadrawala boycotted the meeting "as soon as things started getting ugly” and took to WhatsApp to air his views. The "truth was the majority trustees feared their cozy nest would get unsettled,” he stated. In yet another message, Dadrawala stated that Tirandaz, Mehta and Dastur "with Maestro Dinshaw Mehta outside the BPP will pull every prank that they know… to delay the elections to fill the two vacant seats… As per the BPP scheme of elections, three trustees make a quorum. If Kersi and Noshir keep out they can still convene a valid board meeting and take a decision,” he stated. "But, if elections are held and the two vacant seats are filled the Timid Trio (Tirandaz, Viraf and Dastur) may lose their nice, cozy and comfortable perch on the BPP board,” he noted.
In a lead article in the Parsi Junction (PJ) weekly of August 8, Viraf gave the majority trustees’ reasons for the postponement "to a suitable date at the end of November and shall approach the Chamber Judge of the Hon’ble High Court at the appropriate time.” The decision was taken due to the "recently issued standard operating procedures (SOP) by the state government, clause 12 in particular, taking cognizance of the fact that in the recent weeks we have seen a rise of Covid cases in our colonies and to facilitate the board with time to monitor the situation and to allow time for suitable amendments to the applicable SOPs issued by the government authorities… If during this time the situation in Bombay were to worsen, the board will reassess the situation and look to amend the date further.” PJ is printed and published by known loyalist of past BPP chairman and Viraf’s father Dinshaw.
Dastur told Parsiana on August 8 that looking for a postponement of a month is hardly a big deal…Anyway I wish the government gives clarity on "election campaigning and rallies” soon.
Also taking to WhatsApp, honorary secretary of Cusrow Baug United Sports and Welfare League and BPP trusteeship hopeful Hoshang Jal stated, "The trustees are not the final authority to decide holding of an election beyond three months of a vacancy… It is now over a year since the demise of Zarir Bhathena and over six months since the resignation of Yazdi Desai… Any decision to postpone BPP elections indefinitely (even if approved unanimously by the board) needs to be sanctioned by the High Court. The delay in getting such a sanction is in itself contempt of Court… the trustees are not above the law.” He cautioned that "if extension is sanctioned considering that there is a huge vacancy on the BPP board, the High Court could possibly impose restrictions on the decision-making powers of the board till such time that the elections are held.”
Dadrawala agreed. "BPP trustees are regulated by the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act and election of trustees including filling vacancies is governed by the High Court framed scheme of elections,” he noted. "Any postponement must be approved by the Bombay High Court… Decisions taken, whether by unanimity or majority and by minority or singly cannot be against the letter or spirit of the Scheme framed by the Court.”
Dadrawala further referred to  the "Timid Trio’s” recent ruse: "Now as a knee jerk reaction just in case election gets foisted a new lollipop of appeasement is to offer tenancy.” He queried if "all legal ramifications (have) been looked into or is this just another pre-election sugar candy of appeasement?... A public charitable trust has been reduced to a private commercial enterprise...”