BMC can't oust Byculla museum trustee or terminate agreement: Report

BMC corporators might have geared up to push the civic body to take over Byculla's Bhau Daji Lad (BDL) museum and oust its managing trustee Tasneem Mehta, but an internal report on the issue has put a brake on their plans.

According to BMC's tripartite agreement on the museum, the corporation can neither terminate the agreement nor oust Mehta on its own.

The agreement states that the BMC cannot terminate it "unilaterally". According to civic officials, any changes to the agreement, including ousting Mehta, can only be done by a committee comprising the municipal commissioner, (Tasneem) Mehta and the museum sponsor, which in this case is the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation. Mehta, whom corporators have cornered so far, will continue to head the museum's activities till 2023 and can't be ousted before the agreement expires.

"This agreement shall not be unilaterally terminated by either party and if there are any disputes and/or differences as regards interpretation of any of its terms, the same shall be referred to joint mediation of the Municipal Commissioner and Mrs Tasneem Mehta and the sponsor, and if the same remains unresolved, the same may be referred to Arbitration under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996," reads the tripartite agreement, a copy of which is with dna.

The agreement expires only in February 2023 since the restoration was complete in 2008. BMC chief Ajoy Mehta had last week said during a meeting of civic group leaders that the BMC would soon dissolve the existing trust and set up a new mechanism to run the museum. Mehta had then called for a report on the museum.

However, officials said that with the current terms of agreement, there was nothing much the BMC could do. "The agreement is completely in Mehta's favour. We won't be able to oust her, neither can the agreement be terminated in toto. We will only be able to bring in stricter checks and balances," said a senior civic official.

Last October, the BMC had scrapped its 12-year-old resolution with the trust amid a row over a proposal to use a Byculla playground for the museum's expansion. "We will point out that the agreement terms don't allow any changes in our report. It will be ready in a week and submitted to the municipal commissioner," the official added.

In 2003, a BMC resolution led to a tripartite agreement between the BMC, the Foundation and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. The mayor is the trust's chairperson but the museum's day-to-day activities are looked after by Tasneem Mehta, who is also the museum's honorary director.

"There is nothing illegal. The agreement will be in place till 2023. Legally, they can't terminate it. However, we want to run the museum in harmony with the BMC. If they have an issue with the museum's functioning, they can come and check. I am an equal investor in running the museum which I care for like my own child. We have restored a dead institution and given it back to the city," she said.