Prognosis for the poll

A dispute over the resignation of Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Muncherji Cama could result in the October 18, 2015 election either being deferred or held for five seats instead of six. The Assistant Charity Commissioner (ACC) P. B. Lokhande deferred till August 24 his order on the legalities and technicalities of Cama’s letters relinquishing office and then withdrawing his resignation four days later. The first letter was wrongly addressed to the board of trustees instead of the chairman as prescribed in the High Court approved BPP election scheme, hence the withdrawal.

The BPP’s election notice printed in the Parsi Times on August 8 and the Jam-e-Jamshed a day later states six seats are up for election but qualifies "elections for filling a vacancy due to Muncherji Cama’s resignation is subject to the High Court sanction...and further subject to the approval of the change report by the Charity Commissioner." Also, as Cama had purportedly resigned on June 12, 2015 any election for his seat would have to be held before September 12, that is within three months from the date of resigning as per the requirements of the election scheme. The High Court would therefore have to first condone the delay in holding the election for his seat. As this has not been done, the election notice is bad in law, it was argued before the ACC.

For the first time electronic voting machines will be used at all five voting centers, viz, Sir Shapurji Bharucha Baug in Andheri, Cusrow Baug in Colaba, Khareghat Colony on Hughes Road, the Dadar Parsi Colony Gymkhana and Rustom Baug in Byculla. Elections will be held on the same day at the five venues.

The dispute over Cama’s seat is a manifestation of the prevailing bitterness among the trustees. Even the backroom maneuvering to form a consensus panel of candidates fell victim to their differences. When Parsiana carried a mention of the proposed consensus panel on its website and Facebook page, the posts immediately drew an angry response from one of the key players in the talks. Another named party phoned to say he was not aware of being on any panel. The posts, which were subsequently deleted when Parsiana was informed the talks had broken down, appeared to have touched a raw nerve.

The names being bandied about for the panel included Udvada high priest Dastur Khurshed Dastoor, BPP trustee Yazdi Desai, chartered accountant Zarir Bhathena, finance executive and Zoroastrian Youth for the Next Generation (ZYNG) founder member and BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta’s son Viraf, industrialist Kersi Randeria, former BPP trustee and charity management authority Noshir Dadrawala, publisher Maneck Davar, BPP trustee Armaity Tirandaz’s son Darius (on the assumption Armaity would resign to make way for him to contest) and others.

Dinshaw is opposed to the candidature of both Desai — stating no sitting trustee should be reelected — as well as of his long time bugbear, Randeria. The question was that with five or six vacancies could Mehta stymie Desai’s reelection bid? Desai’s wife Anahita is a popular social worker and has many supporters. Plus Yazdi has the backing of the moribund World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) which at one time was active in community goings-on. The WAPIZ Page too has been published erratically for the last few years. If Desai could not be defeated why not accept the inevitable and agree on a panel that included Desai and Viraf, it was reasoned, but to no avail.

Mehta is not perturbed by the breakdown of negotiations and says the elections should be fought out. Whether he himself can seek reelection after having served 21 years and three consecutive terms is open to debate. Mehta claims the Bombay High Court scheme is prospective not retrospective. If he attempts to re-contest, there would be a legal challenge to his candidature.

So far BPP trustees Arnavaz Mistry and Khojeste Mistree have not made their intentions known though they were said to have expressed an interest in standing for a second term. Had the consensus panel gone through they would have had to weigh their alternatives carefully. BPP trustee Jimmy Mistry has said he is not re-contesting.

The last date for filing nominations according to the notice is September 18, 2015 and the final date for withdrawing from the fray is September 30, 17 days before the slated October 18 elections.

The election announcement also mentions that candidates "may kindly note that the declaration form for accepting the voluntary code of conduct will be issued along with the nomination forms." As the nomination forms are to be available from September 1 onwards, presumably the code of conduct will be made known at that time. The restrictions are said to bar feasting at the "venue or outside or (food) sent to the residences/work places of the voters," or any other incentives to voters. Demonstrations, gheraos, picketing and campaigning 48 hours before election day are banned.

But assuming a winning candidate signs the declaration form but does not observe the code, can the BPP debar him from office? The code is stated to have no, or little, legal backing. It is not encoded in the election scheme nor does it have the sanction of any court. What power does the BPP have if a candidate refuses to sign? Or signs and then disregards the norms. Can he or she be barred from holding election meets in the baugs as threatened?

There will be moral pressure to observe some standards of decency; but whether that will be sufficient to subdue the long festering bitterness between the warring factions of the trustees is to be seen. The breakdown of the coalition or consensus panel is an indicator of what is in store.

How much of a choice the voters will really have remains to be seen. But even if several of the existing trustees are back in office, hopefully they will be a more subdued and wiser lot.