Tata Trusts announced on Sunday that the board of Bai Hirabai Trust decided to remove restrictive eligibility clauses. Former trustee Mehli Mistry said on Monday that the trust deed unambiguously restricts trusteeship to practising Zoroastrians residing in Mumbai or Navsari. He called for the current board, including non-Zoroastrians, to be reconstituted in compliance with the deed.
Tata Trusts announced on Sunday that the board of trustees of Bai Hirabai Trust has decided to remove restrictive eligibility clauses and align them with those of other Tata group trusts.
Former Tata Trusts trustee Mehli Mistry said in a statement on Monday that the decision acknowledges the trust deed clearly restricts trusteeship to practising Zoroastrians residing in Mumbai or Navsari. "The present board of trustees of Bai Hirabai, comprising individuals who are either non-practising or non-Zoroastrian, is not constituted in accordance with the trust deed and must be reconstituted strictly in compliance with its provisions," he said.
Mistry recently challenged the appointment of two trustees, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, before the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner, as they are non-Zoroastrians. He noted that any amendment requires an application to the commissioner, who will hear all parties. "Any order passed pursuant thereto can operate only prospectively from the date of such order and cannot have retrospective effect," Mistry added.
He argued that the plain language of the over 103-year-old deed admits no alternative interpretation and any amendment attempt is unlikely to succeed in law. Mistry highlighted that the trust's assets include a Zoroastrian fire temple, whose religious character complicates relaxing eligibility criteria.
