Metro stay lifted
Attorney General of India, K. K. Venugopal who appeared on behalf of MMRCL argued that the petitioners did not have support of the entire Parsi community. "Two high priests [Dasturs (Dr) Firoze Kotwal and Khurshed Dastoor] of your community have said that construction will not impact on the fire temple... the MMRCL is maintaining distance from the wells...which could (get) contaminated,” noted the bench. Justice Lalit stated that the Metro project "started seven years back when objections to the project were invited. You did not say anything then.”
Work in progress alongside H. B. Wadia Atash Behram Photo: Khurshid Panthaki
"The Supreme Court (is) not buying the argument on spiritual sanctity,” petitioner lawyer Berjis Desai told the mid-day (MD) of December 11. Arguments about the Kalbadevi station and the tunnel boring machines will continue, he said. "The judges will... decide on other safeguarding steps at the next hearing,” he added. Bombay Parsi Punchayet chairman Yazdi Desai told MD that the community "is disappointed but it is good that we put up a good fight,” while trustee Noshir Dadrawala commented, "there is no scope of realignment any longer.”
The petitioners had filed a special leave petition in the apex court after the Bombay High Court ruled on November 30 that boring of the tunnels should go ahead as planned (see "Balancing rights,” pg 24).
Dastoor, in a two-page clarification titled "The Metro controversy — Setting the record straight” sent to Parsiana on December 10, 2018 sought to "highlight (his) involvement in the matter” to address the "spate of malicious criticisms (that) have been made by some... community members.”
Dastoor denied the allegation that he gave an affidavit permitting the MMRCL authorities to let the Metro run under the Atash Behrams. The allegation is "bereft of truth, absolutely false, fictitious and misleading,” he stated.
The email lists the meetings Dastoor arranged between the petitioners and various government and MMRCL officials, including Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. MMRCL chairperson Ashwini Bhide "very clearly conveyed to (Wadia Atash Behram trustee Hosi) Dastur that both Kotwal and Dastoor were pleading the case to realign the tracks,” the High Priest noted.
"As this is a serious issue of sanctity and spirituality, the religious sentiments of our... community are being hurt,” Dastoor wrote to Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on October 26 with a request to forward the letter to the concerned ministry and to issue the necessary instructions to realign the tunnel by seven meters. The PM’s office sent a letter to Fadnavis on the same day, noted Dastoor.