DON’T MISTAKE COMPASSION FOR WEAKNESS
Dear community members,
The last few days have once again brought the BPP into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. It is quite unfortunate that some of my colleagues resorted to such immature and illegal measures to blackmail the community instead of having a mature conversation or alternatively seek recourse from the Courts, if they felt a wrong had truly been committed.
While our press statement on Wednesday, Oct 20, requested our community members to maintain decorum and exercise restraint on social media and other forms, sadly it was not adhered to and false and misleading messages are floating around, including malafide and mis-reporting in the Parsi Times, owned by Kersi Randeria. Let me clarify what has transpired over the last two weeks.
On October 12, the only resolution passed by the BPP was to amend the term of a Trustee from 7 years to 5 years and follow the procedure laid out in the scheme of elections to do so.
No Resolution was passed to postpone elections. We have always pushed for elections to have been held once the Scheme of Elections was amended.
To further clarify, the BPP is not in contempt of the March 2022 Order of the Division Bench of the High Court. In fact, once lockdown was announced, the BPP was not permitted under the prevalent SOPs to hold elections. This is an undisputed fact, known to everyone, as there are restrictions on election meetings, election campaigning and electioneering. Members of the community such as Hoshi Jal etc have been stating that the August 2021 SOPs restricting electioneering are not applicable to Mumbai city. However, not one person has been able to get any confirmation from the BMC that elections can be held. In fact, I have received written confirmation from the BMC stating that the August 2021 SOPs restricting the holding of elections is applicable in Mumbai city as on date.
From the above, community members should be made aware that they were TRICKED and LIED to by the Trustees who went on a fast stating that elections should be held no matter what. These Trustees failed to disclose the truth to the community that the SOPs did not and do not permit the holding of elections.
Upset with the decision of the Board to amend the Scheme of Elections, Noshir Dadrawala submitted his resignation in the Board meeting on Oct 12 and confirmed the same via email on Oct 14. In the email Mr. Dadrawala asked us to hold back discussing his resignation letter and first look in the resolution he believed was illegally passed. He was open to discussion on this and the Trustees unanimously agreed that this issue would be decided as item no. 1 on the Agenda at the next BPP Board Meeting. I do not know what changed but in 48 hours, i.e. Saturday (Oct 16) evening, Noshir sent the Board an email that he will be holding a hunger strike against the proposal to move elections to Oct 22 for 5 seats. In his email his threatened to blame us if anything happened to him. He wrote
“Declare election date and program for December 2021 or stand responsible for any consequence to my health and life. Do take note that I suffer from hypertension and have other comorbidities.”
On Monday afternoon Mrs. Tirandaz and myself visited Noshir at the BPP and requested him to stop his hunger strike. It was not only making the BPP look foolish but was also unethical and was nothing but blackmail against the decision taken by the BPP. More so we told him that his strike would set a bad precedent for future Trustees as well as beneficiaries. But he refused to listen.
We informed Noshir that when he was part of an illegal decision to deny Mrs. Tirdandaz and myself our basic rights as Trustees, we took legal recourse and moved the High Court and had our rights reinstated. Instead of being immature and holding a blackmailing strike, he too should seek legal recourse and deal with this like a prudent Trustee. Unfortunately he found holding a hunger strike and blackmailing his colleagues to be the right thing to do. We continued to implore to Noshir to end his charade, but he still refused to stop his fast and continued his strike.
At our Board Meeting on Oct 19, I informed Kersi and Noshir that we do not need to wait till October 2022 to have elections for everyone. I was expressly clear that, once the scheme of elections is amended , we can have elections immediately. Mr. Xerxes Dastur and Mrs. Armaity Tirandaz had agreed to step down as well ensuring elections for all 7 seats.
Extract from the minutes of October 19: “To ensure cost saving Mr. Mehta suggested that once the scheme is amended and provided the prevalent SOPs permit holding of Elections, BPP will approach the Honorable High Court to seek permission to hold Elections for the positions of not 5 seats but all 7 seats. We can have Elections for all 7 seats the moment the scheme is amended.”
I would like to bring to your notice that several times in the Board and even on email earlier this year, Mr. Dadrawala has been quoted saying that if elections for all 7 seats were to happen together he was open to postponing elections till Oct 22. In fact, no one wanted to want to wait till October ’22. We were happy to have elections earlier provided the scheme was amended. But unfortunately, Mr. Randeria did not agree and forced Noshir to change his mind and push to early elections only for two seats
It was clearly evident that all this was being done by Kersi Randeria to benefit his candidates, Anahita Desai and Hoshi Jal, as he wanted them to have a 7 year term and not 5 years like all subsequent Trustees would have. Nonetheless, Advocate Berjis Desai was asked to intervene and draw out a proposal for the Board to consider. The proposal seemed to echo what was being discussed but did not ensure that the elections of March ’22 would happen under the newly amended scheme of elections. Xerxes Dastur would be ending his term 3 years prematurely, Mrs. Tirandaz 1 year prematurely while Kersi, Noshir and myself would be ending our term 7 months prematurely.
There was no need for 5 sitting Trustees to end their term early. However, if the Trustees were willing to end their terms, it was imperative that the Scheme of Elections be amended so that a new Scheme be put in place for the future elections of all Trustees. This was my one and only request. But Noshir, constantly prompted by Kersi, refused to listen and said that no caveats would be included in the resolution or else they would continue their hunger strike. They just wanted early elections (probably to favour their candidate choices) irrespective of the Scheme being amended or not.
Nothing came off the six hour Board meeting on Tuesday, Oct 19, and finally Mrs. Tirandaz and I left the BPP around 11pm. But given the fact that Noshir has a medical history, Mrs. Tirandaz was concerned and worried for his health. She did not want any untoward incident to happen to him and then give Kersi Randeria the opportunity to involve the police which would add further embarrassment to the community in addition to what was brought on by Noshir’s hunger strike anyway. Xerxes Dastur too was starting to worry as someone had mentioned to him that Noshir’s health was starting to deteriorate. Individuals like Arzan Ghadially sent out whatsapp messeages that Armaity, Xerxes and Viraf should be held responsible should anything happen to Noshir who was fasting out of his own free will.
So much so that late that night at 230am, Mrs. Tirandaz, Xerxes and myself went below the BPP to try and meet Noshir and find an amicable solution. Unfortunately the security guard was not to be found to open the BPP gates and we returned home by 4am after trying for over an hour. Within a few hours, at 730am, I revisited the BPP to check up on Noshir and discuss mutually acceptable changes to the previous proposal. Both Noshir and Kersi seemed well and began discussions with me and Berjis Desai (on the phone).
In the meanwhile, a Doctor came to check on Kersi and Noshir and give them a vitamin shot each. Mr. Dastur and Mrs. Tirandaz joined us around 1030am.
At this point in time, Mrs. Tirandaz and Mr. Dastur were both under the belief that something serious was going to happen to Noshir’s health and hence It had reached a point where Mrs. Tirandaz and Mr. Dastur were willing to agree to whatever terms being put up by Noshir as long as it got him to break his fast. I repeatedly informed them that if we do not ensure the Scheme of elections is amended and applicable to the next BPP elections, then our early resignations would be futile and meaningless.
We discussed through the morning and later had a conference call with Our Counsel, Adv Berjis Desai and ourselves to find a solution. All through the discussions I had only one request that we have to ensure that the March ’22 elections takes place on the newly amended and approved Scheme of Elections. If the Courts do not allow for new scheme to be applicable retrospect on the Trustees of March ’22, as is proposed by Noshir and Kersi, then we should ensure the scheme is amended first and then call for elections thereafter. This will validate the Trustees early resignation.
Yet again I was faced by opposition from Kersi and yelling from Noshir. They didn’t seem to care for a new and improved scheme of elections which would include not only revision of the term of a trustee from 7 to 5 years but also limiting the term of a Trustee to two terms, elections to be co-terminus and a strong, much needed, scheme of elections. They just cared that there be elections (which even today the SOPs have restrictions on) because they were in the minority. This was clear blackmail by Noshir and Kersi using the fast as a threatening tool against us.
Such is their hatred of being in a minority and such is the angst against us that Kersi Randeria suggested that if the March elections were to be postponed for any reason, then all us Trustees should anyway resign and move to have a government appointed administrator take over the BPP till the elections take place. I was shocked and disgusted with this proposal and refused to even consider it. Even Berjis Desai stated that this was a bad idea at all and should not be considered at all.
Later that Wednesday afternoon, Berjis Desai visited the Board to finalize the proposed consent terms. Then too I urged all my colleagues to ensure the scheme is amended and more importantly applicable to the March ’22 elections but once again I was shut down. Noshir and Kersi repeatedly said that if any such caveat were to be included in the consent terms they would not agree and would continue their fast. Reluctantly, to end this drama and out of concern for Noshir’s health, Mrs. Tirandaz and Mr. Dastur agreed. In the larger interest of the community I agreed as well but repeatedly told Noshir that this was being signed by me under duress and blackmail. I do not agree with the consent terms as finalized but would sign them to get my colleague to eat and take care of his health. In fact Berjis Desai too on more than one occasion told Noshir that all this was being done just so that he can break his fast and eat.
Objectively, the finalized consent terms would never have been signed by Mrs. Tirandaz, Mr. Dastur and myself as it did not guarantee the next elections would have been under the new and approved scheme of elections which was the reason for all of us to resign early. But just to get Noshir to end his fast, the three of us agreed to sign.
I stand by what I have signed but I will take whatever steps needed to ensure the scheme of elections is not only amended but the new scheme is applicable to the next BPP elections. I was swamped by messages and calls from beneficiaries who were appalled by the embarrassment that was caused to the community by Noshir’s dharna. The messages and calls intensified after it was known to all that a consent terms were filed wherein we gave in to unfair demands of Noshir and Kersi that precluded a new and improved Scheme of Elections for the Trustees to come.
I am sure there will be many messages floating around once my article is read, but I request you not to fall for misleading and politically motivated messages. Feel free to call me anytime and I will be more than happy to explain in more detail.
Regards,
Viraf Mehta
Trustee, BPP
9820146244
