BPP Chairman's Casting Vote Sparks Controversy Over Flat Allotment
The Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP), which manages more than 5,000 community apartments in Mumbai, has found itself in hot water following serious objections against the allocation of a premium south Mumbai flat to a family allegedly owning multiple properties. In an unprecedented move, three of the six BPP trustees have publicly opposed the decision after chairman Viraf Mehta used his casting vote to approve the young couple's application.
Trustees Reveal Four Key Grounds for Opposition
Facing potential backlash, Mehta informed Times of India that the decision to allot the Godrej Baug flat at Nepean Sea Road to Shauwan Irani has been temporarily put on hold. "We spoke to the family and trying to find a via media," Mehta stated, though his promised written clarification on the matter has yet to materialize.
The three dissenting trustees—Anahita Desai, Adil Malia and Hoshang Jal—outlined four major concerns about the allotment:
Mr. Shauwan Irani is currently not a resident of India.
His income exceeds the permissible threshold for eligibility for a free allotment.
Multiple ownership flats are held by both his family and his wife's family, directly affecting eligibility.
Despite repeated reminders, both families failed to submit Income Tax returns, essential for validating applicant eligibility.
Long-standing Issues of Favoritism in Community Housing
The matter reached the BPP board where voting resulted in a deadlock—three in favor and three against. With trustee Xerxes Dastur absent, chairman Viraf Mehta exercised his casting vote, effectively overriding the objections raised by the three trustees.
The dissenting trustees emphasized that these facts are properly recorded in board documents and explained their public statement was necessary "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."
This incident highlights the persistent problem of favoritism in allotment of community flats that has long plagued the BPP, Mumbai's largest private land lord controlling landmark Parsi Baugs including Cusrow Baug in Colaba, Rustom Baug and Jer Baug in Byculla, Nowroz Baug in Lalbaug, Ness Baug at Nana Chowk and the controversial Godrej Baug in Nepean Sea Road.
The BPP currently has a waiting list of several hundred families seeking community flats, with preference given to young married couples or those planning to marry. The Punchayat also allocates flats to homeless community members, while wealthier Parsis often pay crores as refundable security deposits for apartments in prime properties like Cusrow Baug and Rustom Baug.
Post-pandemic, as donations have decreased, the interest from these security deposits has become crucial for funding BPP's various religious, social and community initiatives, making transparent and fair allotment processes more important than ever for the community's trust and the organization's financial stability.
