Among the properties maintained by BDTA are Afghan Church in Colaba, St Thomas Cathedral in Fort, Christ Church in Mazgaon and Agripada Church, among several others in the city and the state.
The Charity Commissioner's Office has appointed 10 new trustees for the Bombay Diocesan Council Trust Association (BDTA) Private Limited. BDTA, a part of the Church of North India, looks after several prime properties, and has often been in the news for alleged misappropriation of funds and breach of trust.
Among the properties maintained by BDTA are Afghan Church in Colaba, St Thomas Cathedral in Fort, Christ Church in Mazgaon and Agripada Church, among several others in the city and the state. The earlier board of trustees was scrapped under section 41-D of The Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. The section deals with suspension, removal and dismissal of trustees, if they do not adhere to the provisions of the Act.
The trustees were removed on allegations of misappropriation of funds in December 2012. Following that, an administrator was appointed to look after the properties. On May 13, 2016 administrator Amit Singh Mohane issued a notice for the election to be held on June 4, 2016. The notice stated that casting of votes will happen strictly between 11am and 1 pm and counting at 3 pm, immediately followed by the announcement of results.
However, when the dna team visited the BDTA office neat CST on the polling day, no ballot voting took place. Inspector from the Charity Commissioner's office declared all the 10 people who had filled the forms as "elected unopposed". "Since there was no challenging party, we were declared as winners. That is how the elections are held," said James Baker, one of the elected trustees, on whose complaint the previous board was removed. dna independently could not verify the process of election.
When dna reached out to the Charity Commissioner's office to enquire about the process of elections, there was no response.
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