Bombay Parsi Punchayat faces internal dissent over a flat allotment to a family allegedly owning multiple properties. Three trustees publicly opposed the decision, citing eligibility concerns, leading the chairman to halt the allotment pending further discussion. This controversy highlights ongoing issues of favoritism in community

Article by Nauzer K. Bharucha | Times of India

The Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP), which controls over 5,000 community apartments in the city, has been put on the backfoot following objections against the allotment of a south Mumbai flat to a family that is alleged to own multiple properties.For perhaps the first time, three of the six BPP trustees have publicly opposed the allotment after the Punchayat’s chairman, Viraf Mehta exercised his casting vote in favour of the young couple.Fearing a backlash, Mehta told TOI that the decision to allot the flat to Shauwan Irani had been put on hold. “We spoke to the family and trying to find a via media.’’ Early this week, Mehta said he would issue a written clarification on the issue, but so far none has come. The flat is located in Godrej Baug at Nepean Sea Road.

The three BPP trustees, Anahita Desai, Adil Malia and Hoshang Jal, who opposed the allotment, said the family owned a slew of properties. “For complete clarity, we three trustees have already formally recorded our formal dissent after explaining at length all our reasons against this proposed allotment on the following grounds:

1. Mr. Shauwan Irani is currently not a resident of India.

2. His income exceeds the permissible threshold for eligibility for a free allotment.

3. There are multiple ownership flats held by both his family and his wife’s family, which directly affects eligibility.

4. Despite repeated reminders, both families have failed to submit their Income Tax returns, which are essential for validating the eligibility of any applicant couple,’’ they said.

The matter was placed before the BPP board and put to vote. “The result was three in favour and three against. With trustee Xerxes Dastur absent, chairman Viraf Mehta exercised his casting vote, thereby overturning our objections. These facts are on records of the board and explain our position in full. This is issued to provide clarity and to ensure that the members of our community know the exact facts and do not believe that we are in any way in connivance with such allotment by the Board,’’ said the dissenting trustees.

Favouritism in allotment of community flats has always plagued the BPP, the city’s largest private land lord which controls landmark Parsi Baugs, mainly Cusrow Baug in Colaba, Rustom Baug and Jer Baug in Byculla, Nowroz Baug in Lalbaug, Ness Baug at Nana Chowk and Godrej Baug in Nepean Sea Road. The BPP has a waiting list of several hundred families, who want to be allotted a community flat. Preference is given to young married couples or those about to tie the knot. The Punchayat has also allotted flats for those who are without a roof. On the other hand, wealthy members of the Parsi community are prepared to shell out a few crores as a “refundable security deposit” to the BPP for the allocation of an apartment in prime properties like Cusrow Baug and Rustom Baug.

Primary sources of substantial income for trusts like the BPP are donations, monthly licence fees, investment returns and interests from refundable security deposits. Post-pandemic, as donations waned, the real income sources are the interest from these deposits, which is crucial for funding BPP’s various religious, social and community initiatives.

Bombay Parsi Punchayet Puts Controversial Flat Allotment On Hold After Debate

Article by Manoj Ramakrishnan | Free Press Journal

Mumbai: After a fierce debate over a vote in the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) to allot a subsidised community flat to the son of a former assistant commissioner of police, the trust said that the allotment has been kept in abeyance.

The BPP, one of the biggest land owners in the city, with over 5000 charity flats in colonies called baugs across the city, was accused of favouritism by voting to allot a flat in Godrej Baug, Nepean Sea Road, to the family of the former policeman though they did not fulfill certain criteria for community housing. The flats in the BPP colonies are alloted to Parsis with income below a certain threshold.

The colonies, many of which were built by Parsi philanthropic families like the Tatas, Godrej, and Wadias, were handed over to the BPP for allotment to families and individuals who do not own homes in the city. There is a long waiting line for the homes. In a community with one of the lowest birth rates in the country, priority is often given to young couples who want to start a family.

In the Godrej Baug case, said Viraf Mehta, chairman of the BPP, the son of the former policeman is planning to get married. The voting process ended in a draw, with three trustees out of the six present at the meeting voting in favour of the allotment, while the other three dissented. One trustee in the seven-member body was not present at the meeting. The chairman then exercised his casting vote in favour of the allotment.

Mehta said that he still stood by his decision to vote in favour of the allotment. “We do want to help the young couple, but you want to take the board along with you. The whole debate has achieved nothing,” said Mehta who added that the allotment has been kept in abeyance.

“I am in touch with the family in question and they are quite distressed to be caught in the community crossfire. The trust will not be meeting for the next two weeks because some members are travelling. We have issued a public notice asking for objections and feedback from the community. We will reconsider the matter as new information has come in. We will review the decision. This has happened in the past,” Mehta added.

The BPP has not issued any statement in writing. Adil Malia, one of the three trustees who dissented, commented about the development, saying that ‘The righteous voice of the people has to prevail. People have to stand up and raise their voice against all wrong.