Another mediation

Justice B. N. Srikrishna has been appointed mediator in the dispute over construction of flats for the underprivileged at Andheri’s B. S. Panthaki Baug by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). The retired Supreme Court judge was appointed by Justices Sharad Bobde and Mridula Bhatkar of the Bombay High Court (BHC) on January 17, 2012, as per newspaper reports in The Times of India (TOI) and Daily News and Analysis (DNA) on the following day. The judges were hearing a plea by the BPP asking for more time to construct flats "for poor, needy and deserving” Parsi Irani Zoroastrians and asked the BPP and community members Bomy Patrawala and Parvez Firoze to remain present before Justice Srikrishna on February 6.

Justice B. N. Srikrishna: deciding on dispute

About 43,000 sq m of land at Panthaki Baug had been donated to the BPP in 1966 for con-cessional housing for poor and deserving members of the community under the merit rating scheme. In 2008 the BPP approached the BHC challenging the November 5, 2008 order of the Charity Commissioner acting on a complaint by Patrawala and Firoze preventing the BPP from selling 108 flats. However, after the parties filed consent terms in the BHC on October 15, 2009, the Court permitted the BPP to dispose of the remaining constructed flats. An undertaking was obtained from the BPP that they would construct new buildings within two years to provide 300 flats under the merit rating scheme.
BPP counsel Rafiq Dada told the BHC judges that the "trustees are unable to complete (the new buildings) since two years due to reasons beyond their control.” Dada also mentioned that "the BPP moved the Bombay Municipal Corporation immediately for permission but they are yet to be obtained and other issues have also cropped up,” reported TOI.