Jal and Pervin Shroff Clear The Air on the Parsi General Hospital Medanta Issue

Dear Yazdi Desai

Thank you for forwarding us the message from K.R. Zaiwala (see below) –
we also received the same from many of our friends in Mumbai.

It is NOT our intention to comment or respond to the message from K.R. Zaiwala, sufficient to say that he is entitled to his views and we wish him and his family all the best.

With your permission, Pervin (my wife) and I would like to give you a little background of our involvement in this project.

Over the last forty plus years whenever we visited Mumbai somehow we always had occasion to visit family or friends who were patients at the PGH and we could not help but be aware of what a “blessing ” it was for our community to have this exclusive excellent medical facility. In our small way we regularly financially supported the corpus and the free ward of the PGH.

When I had the privilege to be the President, for nearly twenty years, of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hong Kong, Canton and Macao, my committee and I, with the full “backing” of the Hong Kong Parsee community, continued to financially support the PGH, but sadly it became obvious that the long term “viability” of the hospital was at serious risk due to lack of “funds” and “support” from the “affluent” section of our community who in their own interest, rightly, preferred to go to the other Hospitals where they had the latest “diagnostic” equipment and better nursing.

We (Pervin & I) personally, did consider financing, the setting up a small unit, on the grounds of the PGH, with the latest “diagnostic” equipment for the exclusive use of our Parsee Community, but after consultation with some of our prominent Parsee Drs. at the PGH and our own investigation it became evident that lack of constant (regular) usage would “deteriorate” the “functionality” of the expensive equipment.

Sad to say, that we CAN NOT dispute the fact, that our numbers are decreasing.
Another solution needed to be “provided ” to ensure the long term viability of the existing EXCLUSIVE PGH.

After nearly three years of exhaustive negotiations with various parties and with the FULL support and encouragement of the BPP (as per BPP letter Ref No. Est B/1111 dated 18th June 2014) we believe we now have best solution that will ensure the following :-

a. Safeguard the long term EXCLUSIVE NATURE of the existing Parsee General Hospital.

b. Ensure that sufficient finance is available to upgrade the Existing PGH, improve standards, and increase the intake of poor patients.

c. Ensure that NO part of the PGH land belonging to our community is alienated.

Actually our communities assets will increase by approximately INR 150 crores. (The amount the donors have pledged to construct the New Hospital Building and pay for sundry associate charges).

d. The New Hospital Building OWNERSHIP REMAINS 100% in the hands of our community.

e. Medanta will equip the Hospital Building with the latest state of the art medical equipment entirely at their expense. Medanta possess the requisite knowledge, operating experience,expertise, skill and technical knowhow to equip, manage and operate the New Hospital.

f. Medanta will pay a substantial Annuity (annual payment) to the existing PGH.

g. In addition to the Annuity Medanta will also pay a percentage of their annual gross Billable Revenue to existing PGH

h. Medanta will assist PGH free of cost in training nursing staff and medical personnel attached to the existing PGH.

i. Medanta will give preference to poor indigent and weaker section of our community, referred to by the existing PGH.

There are many other beneficial terms for our community and for the existing EXCLUSIVE PGH.

I believe that you Yazdi Desai and your esteemed committee members of the BPP do NOT endorse the views of Mr. Zaiwala and we the donors wish to put on record our sincere thanks once again for having your blessings in our going ahead and completing the project for the benefit of our Parsee Community.

Finally Pervin & my aim in making this “pledge” to construct the New Hospital Building is only to benefit the less fortunate and indigent member of our Zoroastrian

Parsee Community, we do not seek or ask for any “recognition” or “glory’. We leave the matter in your capable hands.

Our pledge of US$ 22.5 Million is absolutely restricted to this project i.e. to build the New Hospital and we are NOT interested in any other alternative project or counter proposal.

Finally Mr. Desai may I request you to give my response (this email to you) as wide a circulation as possible within your committee members, members of the Parsee community, Parsee press and Government officials that I understand were contacted by Mr. K. R. ZAIWALA.

God willing the project will have your and the communities support; if NOT we tried our best, and can only apologise that we failed.

Pervin & Jal

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On 16 November 2017 at 21:34, Yazdi Desai wrote:
Dear Mr. Shroff,

For your kind attention, the below message is being circulated on whatsapp.
Kind regards,
Yazdi Desai

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
K. R. ZAIWALA
ADVOCATE
50 Hemdev House,
Hughes Road,
Bombay 400 007.
Date: 15/11/2017
To
Naresh Trehan,
Chairman and MD.
Medanta,
38, Gurugram, Haryana.
Sir,

It has come to the knowledge of the Parsi Community, that the agreement dated 25th October, 2017, has been signed by you with the Managing Committee of Bomanjee Petit Parsi General Hospital, situated at Bomanjee Petit Lane, Breach Candy, Bombay, to operate and manage a new cosmopolitan hospital, on the land and premises of the above mentioned Parsi General Hospital, and the said agreement has been reported in newsweekly Parsi Times dated October, 28, 2017.

Please take notice, that the aforesaid agreement, signed and executed between yourself representing Medanta Group, and the Managing Committee of Parsi General Hospital, will be patently illegal, and would amount to a fraud on charity, as the land and property of the Hospital has been donated by the donor, Late Bomanjee Petit, for the benefit of the minority community only, and has functioned as such for last hundred years, and any attempt to turn a minority trust into a cosmopolitan trust, without the authority of law , would amount to a fraud on charity, and would be illegal and void, and you would be liable for legal consequences thereof.

Please also take notice, that the Managing Committee are only concerned with the internal management of the Parsi General Hospital, and are not the Trustees of the said Hospital. The ownership of the said Trust property vest with the Trustees of the Bombay Parsi Panchayet at Bombay.
You are requested not to be a party to this fraud, by joining hands with the Managing Committee of the Parsi General Hospital, which mainly comprises of Builders, Property Brokers and the fellow travelers.
A kind reply will be appreciated.

Khushru R. Zaiwala
Advocate.