Surat Parsis petition for direct public control of Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Fund

Surat : Rayoman Sorabji Ilavia, a member of the Surat Parsi community, started a change.org petition to put the Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Funds – the registered Public Trusts Funds established by the Surat Parsis – under direct public control in order to protect the democratic rights of the Surat Parsi community.

Rayoman claims in his petition that the trustees of the Parsee Surat charity Funds (Mumbai) and a couple of Surat’s Parsis appointed as lifetime Trustees in Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Funds under a 180-year-old deduced trust deed dated January 1, 1841 have illegally seized this organization, resulting in the diversion of funds and properties accumulated through public donations and gifts made by Surat’s Parsis.

Can any public trust be allowed to divert funds or properties in the absence of public oversight?

Rayoman stated, citing a Supreme Court decision, that public control of religious endowments is necessary to prevent the “diversion” of assets accumulated through public donations and gifts.

The public control of religious and social charities has been recognised in India for over a century, according to a three-judge Bench of Justices U.U. Lalit, S. Ravindra Bhat, and Bela M. Trivedi.

“In the context of religious endowments, such public control is essential, for the simple reason that in its absence, there is a risk of diversion of monies and properties accumulated through public donation and gifts,” wrote the judgement’s author, Justice Bhat.

The decision made it clear that the state cannot “dictate” what decisions a public trust can or cannot make.”The goal of public control is to ensure that the trust is administered in an efficient and smooth manner.”

Rayoman has petitioned on change.org to re-establish direct public control of the entire Surat Parsi community on their philanthropic institution—The Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Funds—by removing the current lifetime trustees who were and are constantly busy diverting funds and properties under corrupt dealings instead of utilising it for the kind purposes for which it were donated by Surat’s Parsis.

Dr. Homi Darabshaw Dudhwala, president of SPP, and trustees—Darayas Nariman Master, Padma Shri Yazdi Naoshirwan Karanjia, Malcom Tehmas Pandol, Kashmira Marzban Dordi, rustom Darash Morena, Farzin M Parabia, and Persi Engineer—rule the Surat Parsi Panchayat (SPP) and its affiliated institutions. The names came from the SPP website. (suratparsipanchayat.com).

Recently, the SSP issued a public notice inviting interested members of the public to submit higher bids for a residential structure in Lalgate, Surat. The Surat Parsi Panchayat Funds and Properties owns a plot of land as well as a two-story residential property. Tenants who have occupied the residential structure for the last four decades have offered to purchase the plot of land and residential structure for four times the current Jantri price of Rs 3.12 crore. The deadline for submitting an offer was set at March 22, 2023.