Parsi Punchayet hits back with all-out press meet
After ex-chairman filed complaint, BPP retaliates by ‘exposing’ him.
In a new twist to the tussle over Dadi House, trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) arranged a media briefing on Friday to expose former chairman Dinshaw Mehta.
They claimed that they were going to present the same evidence that they had submitted to the Comissioner of Police.
The case dates back to a 2013 sale of tenancy of Dadi House, a commercial property in Bora Bazaar area. The trustees had alleged discrepancy of Rs 20 lakh and accused Mehta of misappropriation of funds.
Mehta filed a complaint with MRA police against the current trustees who transferred the tenancy to Musharaf Kader, Abdul Kareem and Mohinuddin Kader despite the three tenants being named as co-accused in the case pending in court.
Musharaf, Abdul and Mohinuddin took possession of one floor of Dadi House and started a guesthouse in the premises.
One of the current trustees, Kersi Randeria, said, “The transfer of tenancy had been impounded by one of the trustees after it came to light that the full payment had not been received by the trust.”
Several allegations were made against Mehta further after over Rs 20 lakh was retrieved from a cupboard belonging to late BPP CEO, Mehli Colah. Trustees and members of BPP had then suspected that the amount could have been a part of the Rs 45-lakh Dadi House deal.
However, the trust members have now come to a conclusion that the money was not a part of the Dadi House deal after the buyer of the property, Musharraf Kader, came forward and decided to ‘tell the truth’.
“We have five statements on a stamped paper. Two of the five affidavits belong to Musharraf and Colah’s wife Anaita. Musharraf has admitted that he had given Rs 25 lakh in cash as a part of the payment to the then CEO’s wife at their residence in Nana Chowk. The same has been accepted by Colah’s wife,” Randeria said. Musharraf, who was also present, accepted that he had made cash payments to Colah, under Mehta’s instructions.
The trustees also produced video and voice recordings of Musharraf’s conversations with the Mehtas.
When contacted, Mehta said that Musharraf had met him in June and told him that the trustees had threatened him to make a confession, else they would shut down his business. “I had not asked Musharraf to make the payment in cash. Other than that, I would want to say that videos and audios can be manipulated and fabricated. I have nothing to say about those as they are not admissible in court.”
In a new twist to the tussle over Dadi House, trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) arranged a media briefing on Friday to expose former chairman Dinshaw Mehta.
They claimed that they were going to present the same evidence that they had submitted to the Comissioner of Police.
However, events took a dramatic turn when Mehta’s son Viraf – one of the sitting BPP trustees – walked into the briefing and demanded he be made party to the briefing.
The case dates back to a 2013 sale of tenancy of Dadi House, a commercial property in Bora Bazaar area. The trustees had alleged discrepancy of Rs 20 lakh and accused Mehta of misappropriation of funds.
Mehta filed a complaint with MRA police against the current trustees who transferred the tenancy to Musharaf Kader, Abdul Kareem and Mohinuddin Kader despite the three tenants being named as co-accused in the case pending in court.
Musharaf, Abdul and Mohinuddin took possession of one floor of Dadi House and started a guesthouse in the premises.
One of the current trustees, Kersi Randeria, said, “The transfer of tenancy had been impounded by one of the trustees after it came to light that the full payment had not been received by the trust.”
Several allegations were made against Mehta further after over Rs 20 lakh was retrieved from a cupboard belonging to late BPP CEO, Mehli Colah. Trustees and members of BPP had then suspected that the amount could have been a part of the Rs 45-lakh Dadi House deal.
However, the trust members have now come to a conclusion that the money was not a part of the Dadi House deal after the buyer of the property, Musharraf Kader, came forward and decided to ‘tell the truth’.
“We have five statements on a stamped paper. Two of the five affidavits belong to Musharraf and Colah’s wife Anaita. Musharraf has admitted that he had given Rs 25 lakh in cash as a part of the payment to the then CEO’s wife at their residence in Nana Chowk. The same has been accepted by Colah’s wife,” Randeria said. Musharraf, who was also present, accepted that he had made cash payments to Colah, under Mehta’s instructions.
The trustees also produced video and voice recordings of Musharraf’s conversations with the Mehtas.
When contacted, Mehta said that Musharraf had met him in June and told him that the trustees had threatened him to make a confession, else they would shut down his business. “I had not asked Musharraf to make the payment in cash. Other than that, I would want to say that videos and audios can be manipulated and fabricated. I have nothing to say about those as they are not admissible in court.”
