Bombay High Court allows disqualified BPP candidate to contest polls

Dr Zuleika Homavazir

The Bombay High Court on Friday allowed candidate Dr Zuleika Homavazir - who was previously disqualified by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) on the grounds that her nominator Rustom Nanabhoy Jeejeebhoy had "renounced the Zoroastrian faith" and "embraced Christianity" - to contest the upcoming BPP election.

The election, which was scheduled to be held on March 14, has been postponed to May 23. A HC division bench had ruled the same in a separate hearing. Earlier this week, three out of five trustees passed a resolution to the same effect at a board meeting, in light of the rising COVID-19 cases in the city.

Justice SJ Kathawalla ruled on Friday that the BPP trustees' decision of rejecting Homavazir's nomination had been set aside, and that the "trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet shall treat the nomination" of Dr Homavazir as "a valid nomination and take all necessary steps as prescribed in the Scheme/Law to enable" her to contest the election for filling up the two vacancies of BPP trustees.

The court also allowed Homavazir "to inform the members of the community that she is allowed to contest the election." Speaking with mid-day, Homavazir said, "I owe this victory against the BPP trustees for wrongly disqualifying my candidature to my community and supporters. All of us want real change in the working of the BPP. We are dissatisfied with the pace of work and are frustrated over continued tolerance of injustice and absolute apathy at high levels. Trustees are the only custodians and the community members are the beneficiaries."