Truthful taxpayer

Centenarian Framroz Darasha Engineer, now a resident of Poona, has become a "brand ambassador” for the Income Tax Department. "Even at 100 years of age, he understands the importance of tax in nation building. Contribute your bit towards the country. File your Advance Tax by December 15, 2007,” exhorts the Department’s advertisement in the print media.

Engineer was felicitated at his residence by officials of the Department who went there on November 26, 2007, his 100th birthday, bearing bouquets, reported the Hindustan Times of November 27, 2007. "I never expected this kind of appreciation from anybody,” Engineer, who has been filing his returns regularly since 1949, told them. Earlier, on November 7, 2007, The Indian Express (IE) had broken the story that finance minister P. Chidambaram had sent Engineer a congratulatory letter which read: "I am happy to learn that F. D. Engineer has filed his income tax return at the age of 100. I think this is a unique achievement which deserves to be noted and congratulated. Please convey my good wishes to (him).”

The oldest income tax assessee in the country, according to the Department, Engineer says he is "only doing my duty.” An engineer by profession who had an automobile business in Secunderabad, he moved to Poona 20 years ago to live with his daughter Zurie Mody, but continues to file his tax returns from Secunderabad through friend and accountant Noazar Chenoy. At the age of 80 Engineer wound up his partnership business and invested all his savings in shares and mutual funds. It was Chenoy who wrote informing the finance minister about his special client who, though physically weak, is mentally strong and can understand clearly the implications of the provisions of the Income Tax Act as applicable to his circumstances. "He would ensure that all details were intact before the returns were filed,” Chenoy told IE. This year he filed tax returns of Rs 7,500.

According to his doting daughter, Engineer’s zest for life led him to write a book on philosophy in 1950 and much later two booklets on spirituality. He is also a lover of music. In early November Engineer underwent prostate surgery and "the last two months have been a little bad for him as his eyesight has deteriorated. He also suffers from hearing loss,” she informed IE. "But he never stops participating in any activity,” she said with undisguised pride. When Parsiana asked how her father is coping with all the media attention, she replied, "He loves having an audience” especially since age has caught up with him and "he can’t do much work. Earlier he was very active and independent. He would potter around the house fixing things, repairing the flush tank… He is fed up of remaining idle.”

Born a "pucca Bombay Parsi” Engineer’s parents moved to Zanzibar when he was an infant. His father came from a family of shipbuilders, mentions Mody. Zanzibar was then German territory and when World War I broke out they "ran for their lives.” Mody’s uncle became a self-taught dentist, D. D. Engineer who had an extensive practice based in Wassiamal Building on Bombay’s Grant Road, while her father opted for engineering. For a while he lectured at a Parsi engineering institute in Surat and rose to become vice principal. He then worked for Bombay Cycle and Motor Company and later for Allwyn, based in Hyderabad, before starting his own business in partnership with a friend.

In response to Parsiana’s query about her unusual name, Mody laughingly revealed that "Zurie” is a Swahili word which means "nice.” Her parents liked it and chose it particularly because of her father’s nostalgia about his early years in Africa.