BPP election results challenged
A miscellaneous petition filed in the Bombay High Court this July challenging the results of the May 29, 2022 Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trusteeship elections for seven seats alleges several irregularities occurred in the election process and the results should therefore be "set aside" or "quashed.”
The nine petitioners include Kaikhushroo Irani, who unsuccessfully contested the election, Yasmin Mistry who stood for election then withdrew and former BPP trustee Noshir Dadrawala who did not seek re-election.
The 27 respondents include the present BPP trustees, some of the unsuccessful candidates, the chief election commissioner Cmde Aspi Marker, five commissioners and four assistant commissioners and the auditing firm, Deloitte.
The petition, which is likely to be posted for distribution by Justice B.P. Colabawalla on August 2, alleges, "the entire election process was vitiated at all stages. The machines were malfunctioning... The validating agency did not submit its report for an extraordinary long period of time... Inspite of repeated complaints, no steps were taken by Respondent No 2 (Marker) to preserve the EVM machines,chips and the consoles. The Petitioners therefore submit that it is in the interests of justice and fair play…that the election result declared on 29 May 2022 be set aside and/or be quashed.”
