The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) has reached a settlement with the two petitioners who had challenged the former's ban on two priests from entering Doongerwadi and two fire temples belonging to the Punchayet. The Punchayet has lifted the ban, and it is learned that the two priests can conduct ceremonies in the above premises only for their families. The details of the settlement are not yet known.
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) has reached a settlement with the two petitioners who had challenged the former's ban on two priests from entering Doongerwadi and two fire temples belonging to the Punchayet. The Punchayet has lifted the ban, and it is learned that the two priests can conduct ceremonies in the above premises only for their families. The details of the settlement are not yet known.
The settlement will now have to go to the Supreme Court for final ratification. The two banned priests were not the petitioners, therefore were not involved in the negotiations. The settlement was reached amicably through court-appointed mediator Sujata Manohar. She was the third name suggested by the SC. The mediation had failed earlier when led by Sriram Panchu. The former chief justice of India, Sarosh Kapadia, had declined to mediate.
The Parsi Punchayet chairman, Dinshaw Mehta, and the two petitioners in the case- prominent Parsi Homi Khushrokhan and former municipal commissioner Jamsheed Kanga- released a joint letter stating that they have reached a settlement. The letter stated that since they are bound by a confidentiality clause, nothing more can be revealed.
In 2009, BPP barred two priests, Khushroo Fali Madon and Framroze Mirza, from entering Doongerwadi and two BPP-owned fire temples, for what it called their "renegade" and "irreligious" activities. The "irreligious activities" included after-death prayers for Parsis who had been cremated, religious ceremonies like navjote for children whose father was not a Parsi, and mixed marriages.
While Mirza declined to be party to the case, Madon did not file an intervening petition. The two, however, continued to practice at other fire temples.
While BPP's Mehta said that all BPP trustees had consented to the settlement, at least one of the priests concerned said he had not been told of the settlement. Madon said, "I am not aware of any settlement, and I was not party to the case. When I contact them, they do not take my call."
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