“Mehta charged”

I was pained to read the news item "Mehta charged” (Events and Personalities, Parsiana, November 7-20, 2020) which is misleading.
A charge sheet has been filed against me alleging that I used trust monies of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) amounting to Rs 20 lakhs for six months, based on the affidavit of a co-accused, for an episode which happened seven years ago! And that too, after different police investigators had given me a clean chit in writing on three separate occasions.

Dinshaw Mehta (l) and Khojeste Mistree

Your item relies upon a highly biased version of the complainant, former BPP trustee Khojeste Mistree, as well as a report in Parsi Times, a publication owned by BPP trustee Kersi Randeria who has been my opponent in trust matters for the last 20 years when his boss Maneck Engineer lost to me in the BPP elections of 2001.
You could have easily read the charge sheet and avoided portraying to your readers that I have been charged with some serious misappropriation of monies. This is the least expected of a publication which claims to be independent.
If hatred reaches such a level that people want to muzzle, by some means, a person aged 78 like me so that my voice in community matters is suppressed, it is a sad state of affairs.
I have devoted almost my entire time to the community since 1990 as is evident from the fact that every candidate for trusteeship whom I have supported in the last many elections has won against all odds. This shows public support for me and my family.
My opponents forget that a Mehta will die fighting but will never surrender to wrongful pressure.

DINSHAW RUSI MEHTA
dinshaw@dinshawmehta.com