On Thursday, 27th October, 2016, the Jt. Charity Commissioner once again heard Munchi Cama’s application for a stay order restraining the Trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet from carrying out any work of the Trust for the community.

Almost two months after the case was filed, Trustees Armaity Tirandaz and Viraf Mehta filed their vakaltnama and their affidavit in reply to Munchi Cama’s application. Para 9 of their affidavit reads, “In light of the facts and circumstances mentioned hereinabove, Respondent Nos. 2 (Armaity Tirandaz) and 6 (Viraf Mehta) say that the Respondents Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 (Desai, Dadrawala, Randeria and Bhathena) shall be ordered to abstain themselves from taking any step and policy decision in respect of the properties of the Punchayat.”

Even as the two sitting Trustees, Tirandaz and Viraf Mehta, have asked in their affidavit that the work of the BPP should be brought to a grinding halt, there are over 28 families who have been allotted houses and are kept waiting for the signing of their agreements! Of these unfortunate community members who have been kept on indefinite hold, one is suffering from cancer and another gentleman is blind and has been waiting for years to get a flat!

It may be interesting to note that both Trustees – Tirandaz and Viraf Mehta – unanimously signed all agreements for seven months. However, the discrepancy started with Mehta refusing to sign the now famous ‘Dadi House Ageement’ (as it would implicate his father, ex-Chairman Dinshaw Mehta), followed by Tirandaz, who decided to ‘withdraw’ her signature after having signed the Dadi House agreement! In fact, Tirandaz is said to have changed her stand about this agreement a record seven times!

After only months of being elected Trustees to the new Board, the two Trustees allegedly seem unwilling to sign on any agreements till Munchi Cama is recognized as a Trustee and either returns to work or at the minimum, is ‘allowed’ to sign all documents/agreements etc. Not wanting to keep the helpless community members suffering based on a difference of opinion of two minority Trustees, BPP Chairman Yazdi Desai, asserted Clause 32 of the Scheme of Elections which empowers the majority Trustees to take and execute all decisions of the Trust.

However, Trustees Viraf Mehta and Armaity Tirandaz have referred to and tried to stop this positive stand taken by the majority Trustees. In their affidavit, these two Trustees have demanded that all the reliefs sought by Munchi Cama in his application be granted. This would effectively mean that amongst other prayers, they are supporting Cama’s primary prayer for “an Order of injunction and/or direction for restraining the Respondents from taking any decision/steps in respect of a)any properties of the said Trust, b)administration, management and/or execution of the said Trust and c)affairs of the said Trust.”

During this hearing, one of the advocates was heard telling the Jt. Charity Commissioner that there appeared to be an alleged collusion between the applicant and the two respondents (Tirandaz and Viraf Mehta). The court has set the next date for hearing on 4th September, 2016.