Editorial Viewpoint
A criminal controversy
The aftershocks of the disturbing news of four Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustees (Arnavaz Mistry, Jimmy Mistry, Khojeste Mistree and Yazdi Desai) filing a police complaint against their chairman (Dinshaw Mehta) will be long felt. Whether the aspersions cast against their colleague will be borne out or not will be determined with time, but the ramifications on the functioning of the troubled BPP board will be disastrous. BPP trustees Armaity Tirandaz and Muncherji Cama did not join in the police complaint indicating there were differences of opinion on the allegation or how one should go about resolving the issue.
The preparations — if one can call them that — for the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress (10WZC) in Bombay this December are bound to suffer a further setback. The haphazard organization of the Congress will disappoint Zoroastrians from around the world planning to attend. Even without this destructive rift, there was much confusion on the program, speakers, scheduling... Now with the seven trustees’ attention absorbed in a criminal investigation, there will be even less heed paid to the organization of the global meet hosted by the BPP.
At a time when the BPP has planned a grand inaugural function for the 10WZC attended by the President of India and the Governor of Maharashtra on December 27, the chairman of the community’s premier institution is charged with criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds and cheating (charges quoted from the DNA daily of November 14, 2013 which broke the story). Will the trustees be able to demonstrate even a semblance of unity at the Congress?
The Supreme Court hearing on the controversial renegade priests issue is due on November 26, 2013 and if no understanding is reached in the long drawn out mediation process, the justices may proceed with the case. The BPP, however, intends to ask for an extension keeping in mind the present imbroglio. Three trustees are said to be in favor of a compromise, three are supposedly opposed and one reportedly undecided. Are any of the trustees in a frame of mind to devote their attention to an issue which at this time must appear peripheral?
And what about flat allocations, maintenance of the 5,500 to 6,000 or so flats the BPP owns, the countless court cases pertaining to property matters, the management of the 55-acre Doongerwadi estate and the numerous institutions the trust runs? Coping with all this even at the best of times is problematic but even tougher with a headless (the BPP chief executive officer Mehli Colah has been medically indisposed for several weeks), demoralised and overworked staff.
With the endless bickering and acrimony in the boardroom extending well into the night, several members of the staff have to stay beyond office hours. The use of choice, abusive words at the trustees’ meetings is rampant. One can only hope they don’t come to blows.
The stepmotherly treatment meted out to the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) can only worsen. If the assets of functioning anjumans are at risk what chance do defunct bodies have of holding on to their property? Proposed changes in the rules and regulations of the FPZAI were to be discussed and voted on. In this environment can any thoughtful, meaningful discussion take place?
Fighting in a boardroom is bad enough, making your differences public is even worse. Filing a criminal complaint crosses an invisible line of acceptable community behavior.
Surely the four trustees who filed the complaint were obliged to first raise the allegations in community forums. If people felt there was substance in the charges then they could have gone ahead. The facts of the case are not known to the public nor were they publicized. The Parsee Gymkhana in contrast instituted a committee of members to inquire into alleged embezzlement of funds. The BPP trustees could have appointed a retired judge or a police official to make a preliminary investigation. Only if no cooperation was forthcoming or no understanding was reached, the authorities could have been alerted.
The criminal charges center around the transfer of a first floor tenancy in a commercial, cosmopolitan building, Dady House owned by the BPP and located at 120, Bora Bazaar Street in the congested Fort area. According to reports the tenancy transfer was discussed by the BPP board at a meeting and a price fixed of which half would have accrued to the landlord. A cheque reportedly was received for a part of the due amount and the rest is said to have come by other cheques prior to the complaint being filed. It is possible that some trustees may have differing views on the amount agreed to, but a figure reportedly had been finalized at a board meeting.
Two meetings of the trustees were reportedly held in industrialist Nusli Wadia’s office where an offer was purportedly made to Mehta to resign or face the consequences. He was told he could retain his chairmanship till the Congress was over and then step down. Mehta refused and walked out of the meeting. He is now threatening to sue each of the four complainants for Rs 5 crore. There is talk he may also include Desai’s wife Anahita in the suit.
How much of the allegations were on the basis of suspected wrong doing and how much is a vendetta is not known. Mehta narrates ad nauseam that ever since he worked to defeat the trusteeship candidature of Anahita, Yazdi and his co-trustee Mistree have borne him a grudge. Jimmy Mistry and his bodyguards had come to blows with Mehta and his son Viraf during the 2011 election polling at Rustom Baug. There is no love lost between Mistry and Mehta.
The only surprise signatory to the complaint was Arnavaz Mistry who is generally well disposed to Mehta and often relies on Cama’s judgment.
Mehta is also an overbearing individual who sooner or later ends up alienating his colleagues. In 2006 four trustees resigned stating it was impossible to work with him. Now four others have moved to get Mehta out. Whether they succeed in their attempt or not, the biggest loser will be the community.
The preparations — if one can call them that — for the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress (10WZC) in Bombay this December are bound to suffer a further setback. The haphazard organization of the Congress will disappoint Zoroastrians from around the world planning to attend. Even without this destructive rift, there was much confusion on the program, speakers, scheduling... Now with the seven trustees’ attention absorbed in a criminal investigation, there will be even less heed paid to the organization of the global meet hosted by the BPP.
At a time when the BPP has planned a grand inaugural function for the 10WZC attended by the President of India and the Governor of Maharashtra on December 27, the chairman of the community’s premier institution is charged with criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds and cheating (charges quoted from the DNA daily of November 14, 2013 which broke the story). Will the trustees be able to demonstrate even a semblance of unity at the Congress?
The Supreme Court hearing on the controversial renegade priests issue is due on November 26, 2013 and if no understanding is reached in the long drawn out mediation process, the justices may proceed with the case. The BPP, however, intends to ask for an extension keeping in mind the present imbroglio. Three trustees are said to be in favor of a compromise, three are supposedly opposed and one reportedly undecided. Are any of the trustees in a frame of mind to devote their attention to an issue which at this time must appear peripheral?
And what about flat allocations, maintenance of the 5,500 to 6,000 or so flats the BPP owns, the countless court cases pertaining to property matters, the management of the 55-acre Doongerwadi estate and the numerous institutions the trust runs? Coping with all this even at the best of times is problematic but even tougher with a headless (the BPP chief executive officer Mehli Colah has been medically indisposed for several weeks), demoralised and overworked staff.
With the endless bickering and acrimony in the boardroom extending well into the night, several members of the staff have to stay beyond office hours. The use of choice, abusive words at the trustees’ meetings is rampant. One can only hope they don’t come to blows.
The stepmotherly treatment meted out to the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) can only worsen. If the assets of functioning anjumans are at risk what chance do defunct bodies have of holding on to their property? Proposed changes in the rules and regulations of the FPZAI were to be discussed and voted on. In this environment can any thoughtful, meaningful discussion take place?
Fighting in a boardroom is bad enough, making your differences public is even worse. Filing a criminal complaint crosses an invisible line of acceptable community behavior.
Surely the four trustees who filed the complaint were obliged to first raise the allegations in community forums. If people felt there was substance in the charges then they could have gone ahead. The facts of the case are not known to the public nor were they publicized. The Parsee Gymkhana in contrast instituted a committee of members to inquire into alleged embezzlement of funds. The BPP trustees could have appointed a retired judge or a police official to make a preliminary investigation. Only if no cooperation was forthcoming or no understanding was reached, the authorities could have been alerted.
The criminal charges center around the transfer of a first floor tenancy in a commercial, cosmopolitan building, Dady House owned by the BPP and located at 120, Bora Bazaar Street in the congested Fort area. According to reports the tenancy transfer was discussed by the BPP board at a meeting and a price fixed of which half would have accrued to the landlord. A cheque reportedly was received for a part of the due amount and the rest is said to have come by other cheques prior to the complaint being filed. It is possible that some trustees may have differing views on the amount agreed to, but a figure reportedly had been finalized at a board meeting.
Two meetings of the trustees were reportedly held in industrialist Nusli Wadia’s office where an offer was purportedly made to Mehta to resign or face the consequences. He was told he could retain his chairmanship till the Congress was over and then step down. Mehta refused and walked out of the meeting. He is now threatening to sue each of the four complainants for Rs 5 crore. There is talk he may also include Desai’s wife Anahita in the suit.
How much of the allegations were on the basis of suspected wrong doing and how much is a vendetta is not known. Mehta narrates ad nauseam that ever since he worked to defeat the trusteeship candidature of Anahita, Yazdi and his co-trustee Mistree have borne him a grudge. Jimmy Mistry and his bodyguards had come to blows with Mehta and his son Viraf during the 2011 election polling at Rustom Baug. There is no love lost between Mistry and Mehta.
The only surprise signatory to the complaint was Arnavaz Mistry who is generally well disposed to Mehta and often relies on Cama’s judgment.
Mehta is also an overbearing individual who sooner or later ends up alienating his colleagues. In 2006 four trustees resigned stating it was impossible to work with him. Now four others have moved to get Mehta out. Whether they succeed in their attempt or not, the biggest loser will be the community.
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