A move to change the registered address of the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) could run counter to the all-India body’s original memorandum. Chartered accountant Jehangir Bisney, a trustee of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman of Secunderabad and Hyderabad and a former vice president of FPZAI South Zone commented on a Parsiana Facebook post that "The registered office of the Federation is always the address of the BPP (Bombay Parsi Punchayet) as per the memorandum of FPZAI. I do not think the address can be changed as there is no provision for such an amendment in the rules and regulations of FPZAI.”
A notice dated April 5, 2019, issued by honorary joint secretary Farrokh Rustomji, calling an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the FPZAI on May 5, has on its agenda to "change the registered address” of the all-India body, to reconstitute the defunct anjumans committee (DAC) and to "consider the draft of the trust deed in respect of the Global Working Group (GWG),” among other things. Pending the changes, the anjumans have been directed to reply at Desai’s residential address in Rustom Baug instead of the FPZAI office in the BPP.
FPZAI president Yazdi Desai’s wife Anahita clarified, also on Parsiana’s Facebook page, that their residential address is "only a temporary correspondence address and not a registered office address.” But the concern is that following Desai’s move, other anjumans/trusts may also move to change the registered address of their trusts to addresses more convenient to them, though not in the best interest of the trust.
A further ignominy to what was once viewed as the premier Parsi Zoroastrian body in the country is that it will now temporarily operate out of an individual’s residence, the same way an informal baug association would.
The timing of the EGM has been selected to ensure minimum attendance, as May will be vacation time, plus some of Desai’s opponents on the BPP board will be in Orlando, Florida, to attend the GWG meet there, as well as the annual general meetings of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America and the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce. As chairman of the BPP, Desai is ex officio president of the FPZAI.
Desai controls the loyalty of the majority of the small south Gujarat FPZAI anjuman members and most, if not all of the office bearers are his handpicked nominees. Other anjuman representatives have been more or less sidelined, hence attend sporadically or remain absent on account of Desai’s high-handed approach. The proposed resolutions are expected to pass easily as Desai has the right to stop any discussion he believes is not in the interest of the body.