Row over proposer: Bombay HC lets candidate fight Parsi Punchayet trustee poll

BPP had rejected the candidate’s form after it was informed by members of the community that one of her proposers had ceased to profess the Zoroastrian faith

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) to allow a candidate to participate in the elections for the trustee on Sunday.

HC held that as the woman had complied with the procedure for filing her nomination, it was the panchayat’s duty and not the candidate’s to verify if her proposer was a Zoroastrian. (HT File)

BPP had rejected the candidate’s form after it was informed by members of the community that one of her proposers had ceased to profess the Zoroastrian faith after she had submitted her form, and hence it should not be accepted.

HC held that as the woman had complied with the procedure for filing her nomination, it was the panchayat’s duty and not the candidate’s to verify if her proposer was a Zoroastrian.

A division bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice Vinay Joshi, while hearing the interim application in a suit filed by Dr Zuleika Homavazir, was informed by advocate Rajiv Singh that the plea was moved for urgent hearing as a single judge bench of HC had rejected the claims of his client. Singh informed the court that the single judge had failed to take note of the fact that BPP had not followed proper procedure while rejecting the nomination.

According to Dr Homavazir’s application, she had filed her nomination form with the first proposer, and it was seconded by another proposer. She submitted that she had verified that both the names were present in the member and donor register before requesting them to propose her name as a candidate. However, after she filed her nomination form, rumours of the first proposer having renounced the Zoroastrian faith and embracing Christianity surfaced. BPP‘s chief executive officer (CEO) asked Dr Homavazir to verify the development, failing which her nomination would be cancelled, as the proposer had to be a practicing Parsi. As she could not get the requisite verification from first proposer, BPP’s CEO cancelled her nomination form.

Singh informed the bench that even if it was assumed that the first proposer had renounced the faith, his name was not removed from the register, and the proposer was expected to confirm if the candidate was a Parsi and not the other way around. He also claimed that BPP’s CEO did not follow the proper procedure to verify if the proposer had renounced the faith by giving a 30-day notice to the renouncer, and hence, the rejection of Dr Homavazir’s nomination was invalid.

After hearing the submissions, the court held that as there was no proof of the first proposer having renounced the faith, and as BPP’s CEO had not followed proper procedure, the rejection of Dr Homavazir’s nomination was invalid. HC directed the panchayat to accept her nomination form for the election and also gave her the liberty to inform the members of the community of her candidature.