A leave to licence

The recent tumultuous developments in the country have pushed to the background the goings-on in the once hallowed Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). The board is still divided, four to two, and more recently, three to two, as BPP trustee Zarir Bhathena who was operated for a brain tumor while on a visit to the USA, has just started attending the board meetings. Determined not to let the internal wrangling hold up the trust’s work, especially housing allotments, BPP chairman Yazdi Desai and trustees Noshir Dadrawala, Kersi Randeria and Bhathena have opted to sign the leave and license (LL) agreements. BPP trustees Armaity Tirandaz and Viraf Mehta have refrained from doing so. Muncherji Cama whose trusteeship status is being contested before the Charity Commissioner (CC) has cautioned his colleagues about taking any major decisions until his case is decided.
On November 29, 2016 at 11.51 a.m. in an email addressed to Ronny Patel, BPP senior executive, housing, Mehta wrote: I am informed that, in this Saturday’s edition of the Parsi Times (26-11-2016), chairman Yazdi Desai has mentioned that "20 beneficiaries who had been allotted houses were unable to take possession of their flats” and that only "three trustees — Kersi Randeria, Noshir Dadrawala and Yazdi himself (out of seven trustees) have resolved to go ahead and execute and register the LL agreements” and that "we have managed to complete almost all the pending LL agreements” and further that "four of our 20 allottees, who would have virtually been on the streets by end of September 2016, have been given possession of their allotted flats on humanitarian grounds by taking an undertaking from them on stamp paper.”

Viraf Mehta (left) and Noshir Dadrawala

This is shocking to learn, since Mrs Tirandaz, Mr Cama and myself have not been informed of any of the following information:
 Who are the allotments made to since minutes of meetings are not given to us?
 Was due process of law followed?
 On what basis were these allotments made without informing all trustees since all information and documents required to verify are refused to be given to us probably to avoid exposure of instances like Dr Farokh Master?
 Why have the LL agreements not been provided to the trustees for review, execution and registration if the allotments were approved by the BPP board?
 Have the minutes and explanations to the minutes where these may have been discussed been approved/passed and forwarded to the trustees to record the allotments?
 Since neither Armaity nor I have signed any of these agreements, on what basis were the allotments made and agreements executed and registered without our signatures?
 Have these allotments been done without jeopardizing the rights of the poor and needy of the community?
 Are the allotments made to any member of a trustee’s family or to a close associate of the trustees?
 Has the trust or the trustees earned any revenue from these allotments?
​Since, I have not executed any LL agreements because I have not been provided with documents to study the cases at hand it is my apprehension that some serious illegal activities are being indulged in by certain trustees allotting flats on a preferential basis — to the detriment of others.
​If the above is true then the trustees are guilty of committing various offences including criminal breach of trust. The majority trustees just by passing a resolution illegally allotting flats without providing me with minutes and reading material cannot legalize an illegal act. Furthermore the opinion of (lawyer) Mr Dandiwala based on which they passed this resolution in no place mentions anything about a LL agreement being executed without our signature.
​I suggest and request the BPP staff not to partake or indulge in this illegal activity otherwise criminal proceedings can be initiated upon them as well.
​In the meantime, can you please provide me with the responses to my queries above, and the names of the LL agreements that have been recently registered, especially those without the signatures of Mrs Tirandaz, Mr Cama and myself.