“Ullu Banavano Time Pacho Ayo…

…Resolution Passed – Ave Sapna Joya Karo!”

It is election season in our community. And it is raining false promises, as always.

Over the last few years, many Trustees have come before the community and promised the moon… and like all good politicians worth their salt, conveniently forgotten their promises… up until it’s time for elections again.

A few standard promises include providing “Old Age Homes”; “Schemes for our Youth and Dasturjis”; and most importantly “Housing the poor and middle-class needy and deserving”.

Then, in the last few years, a new “Promise” was found – and made with a lot of gusto!

“TENANCY” – they screamed! We will make you tenants!!

And the community fell for it. Hook, line and sinker!

Nobody questioned previous politicians when they gave away tenancy to friends and relatives, but denied tenancy to Rusi, Pesi, Hosi or to Alamai, Colamai and Pillamai – our everyday Parsi aam aadmi.

We still believed the Trustees, and especially put our faith in the Majority trio… for hope springs eternal and we are a gentle, peace loving but sadly gullible, nay – extremely gullible, community.

And for many years they hoped the community had forgotten these Jhoomlas (false promises) and brazenly carried on looking after their friends and relatives, and of course, the rich of the community.

Normally, at election time, it would have been the usual and extremely popular, “we will wipe the tears from your eyes” and/or “by the time my term ends every Parsi Irani Zarthosti will be housed”.

Hence, the “Tenancy” promise.

Six months ago, (as per Trustee Viraf Mehta) Viraf Mehta put the item on the agenda – and…. nothing happened! Six months of radio silence.

And now suddenly, thanks to events outside the control of the majority Trustees, the elections appear to be around the corner. This, despite their darndest efforts to stall the elections, where our so-called Chairperson – Armaity Tirandaz and Viraf (just two Trustees) passed a resolution (using the Chairman’s casting vote), to postpone the elections to October 2022.

However, events took on a life of their own – protests, hunger strikes and more than 6,000 community members signing a petition, demanding that elections be held immediately – culminated in a challenge to the “Majority” in the High Court.

Justice has often been blamed for being slow and painful. But not this time! This time around, the community was fortunate. The matter came up before a bench headed by a Parsi judge – Justice Kathawalla – one of the most respected judges in the Bombay High Court. Additionally, he is also extremely well-informed about what goes on in the community.

Further, two extremely respected jurists – Darius Khambata and Berjis Desai – came forward with some proposals which the Trustees discussed in great detail, made changes to, added and deleted clauses and thereafter, unanimously put forward to the Hon’ble High Court, a revised scheme retaining the good from the old scheme and adding relevant and progressive new clauses.

But we digress…

To all parties involved in this litigation, it was apparent that the final scheme would most probably be approved on Tuesday, 22^nd February, 2022 – the date fixed for the second round of objections  / suggestions in the High Court.

As per the consent given to the Hon’ble High Court by all five Trustees, the dates for the elections would thereafter be announced. And therein lay the challenge for the Trustees whose personal agenda may perhaps have not just taken precedence over but even come at the cost of the community’s welfare

THE NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS HAVE TO BE READ CAREFULLY SO AS TO BE ABLE TO SEE THROUGH THE POLITICAL GAMES BEING PLAYED WITH THE COMMUNITY.

Attempts are being made to portray that the majority Trustees (Armaity Tirandaz, Viraf Mehta and Xerxes Dastur) are all for granting tenancy to all the beneficiaries (who are licensees today), while minority Trustees (Noshir Dadrawala and Kersi Randeria) are against the proposal.

NOTHING CAN BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

From the legal opinion given by Solicitor Jehangir Mistry, partner at Mulla & Mulla and Craigie Blunt & Caroe, to Trustee Viraf Mehta, the following excerpts are important to note, as under:

SIMPLE! You do not need a legal opinion to know this.

But the catch is in the next two lines, which read as under:

Let us examine the facts:

• This “opinion” is received SIX AND A HALF YEARS after Viraf Mehta became a Trustee
• The Trust has not asked for this opinion and allegedly, even Armaity and Xerxes were shocked when this “opinion” was dumped on their table.
• Any opinion is only as good as the Queries raised – and the “query” that was raised was raised in a manner that only warranted a superficial opinion as this one, without going into the total legality of the proposal.
• Trustee Viraf Mehta has claimed that this item was on the agenda for the last six months. It is therefore critical to note that the Query was raised, after SIX MONTHS on 1^st February 2022 and the “opinion” was given on 14^th February 2022!
• THE “OPINION” WAS NOT GIVEN TO THE TRUSTEES DURING THE BOARD MEETING OF 15^TH FEBRUARY 2022 – a day after the opinion was received!
• It was GIVEN TO THE TRUSTEES ON 21^ST FEBRUARY, 2022
• It was GIVEN ONE DAY BEFORE THE  HIGH COURT HEARING
• A so-called “conditional resolution” was passed by the Majority Trustees, which said “subject to…….”

SO, HOW WILL THIS BENEFIT ONLY THE RICH?

Let us first place on record that from a common sense point of view, this comes across as a scam – nothing more nothing less! The timing and the content of the opinion makes this crystal clear.

Even the proposed board resolution states:

“RESOLVED THAT every Licensee of the BPP of residential premises who is lawfully in occupation and in respect of whom no legal proceedings have been initiated (including any legal notice or contentious correspondence), subject to the BPP receiving legal and tax opinions and confirmation, be given an option to apply to convert his leave and license arrangement into being a monthly contractual tenant of such premises, by following the legal process to be prescribed including payment of stamp duty, registration and their statutory charges as also the consent to convert the interest free refundable security deposit into a deemed donation to the Trust, and upon the valid exercise of such option, such licensee will become a monthly contractual tenant of the Trust, subject to completion of legal, tax and audit formalities.”

Dear community members, please read the following VERY CAREFULLY:

• At the first instance they say – “….subject to the BPP receiving legal and tax opinions and confirmation.” Even as the three Trustees(???) are telling you that they have “passed” a resolution, they are qualifying it by saying they need a legal opinion! Strange, is it not? Considering that the whole Jhumla is based on the legal opinion of a Senior Partner of Mulla and Mulla, Solicitor Jehangir Mistry (as per the WhatsApp being circulated). Or do they not trust his opinion? Or, more importantly and more possibly, the “opinion” has not addressed all the issues?
• AND now the two important, nay critical points, you need to note:
  • a) You have to undertake and give consent to “convert” your Deposit into a Donation (which keeps 98% of the beneficiaries out – those who DO NOT HAVE ANY DEPOSIT with the Trust); and
  • b) Payment of Stamp Duty and Registration Charges.

STAMP DUTY AND REGISTRATION CHARGES……

For our innocent and gullible Parsis, here’s something to think about, understand and digest…

85% of community members who are poor or middle-class may not be able to pay the Stamp Duty + Registration Fees.

Now with stamp duty running into lakhs of rupees from maybe Rs. 5-6 lakhs (minimum) to Rs. 40-45 lakhs, the poor and middle-class beneficiaries will certainly NOT BE ABLE to raise such huge amounts. But the rich would!

So, the fact remains that despite all the hue-and-cry, this is nothing but a Jhumla – a political stunt – an attempt to win your votes with yet another lie.

Knowing full well that they will not be able to ‘implement’ this deliberately flawed resolution by quoting the Election Code Of Conduct, they ‘passed’ this ‘resolution’ in the dying moments of their term.

They can promise you the moon, quote the Election Code Of Conduct for not being able to deliver and then blame the next Board for not implementing their ‘resolution’.

They hope and plan to win the elections based on such promises, and like true politicians, forget about their ‘promises’ till the next elections – which most of these trustees will not be eligible to contest, as per the new Scheme of Elections.

So, dear Community members, do not dream the dream of tenancy – it will be the nightmare that we all dread for the community!

Trusteeship CAN NOT and SHOULD NOT BE ABOUT VOTES AND ELECTIONS!

IT SHOULD BE ABOUT OUR TRUST, OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR POOR AND MIDDLE-CLASS BENEFICIARIES!