Syedna accused of `commercialising’ charity

July 9: The head priest of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Burhanuddin, and some of his relatives have been accused of forging document...

July 9: The head priest of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Burhanuddin, and some of his relatives have been accused of forging documents to usurp a prime property admeasuring 5,278 sq yards opposite Charni Road station. The property is worth over Rs 250 crore. The property, which belongs to the Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy Charitable Trust, comprises Saifee Hospital, a sanitorium, two dilapidated buildings, the tomb of Sir Adamjiee Peerbhoy and a mosque. The trustees have been accused of trying to commercially exploit the property.

Syedna and his family members, who hold important positions on the trust, however have denied the allegations and have accused vested interests of making such charges out of personal animosity to His Holiness Syedna Burhanuddin.

Established in 1884 by a philanthropist, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy, the trust was declared bankrupt in 1930 and was taken over by Saifee Hospital Society. Surprisingly, the trustees of both Peerbhoy Trust and the Saifee Society are the same: Sayed Ebrahim Saifuddin, Dr Yusuf Najmuddin, Ali Asgar Kalimuddin and Ismail Kanga. Most of them were either relatives of the Syedna or his close friends.

Story continues below this ad

Soon after the takeover, the society interpolated two paragraphs in the constitution of the Adamjee Peerbhoy Trust. This interpolation, apart from regularising the occupation of Wing C of the sanitorium (a property of the Adamjee Peerbhoy Trust) by the Saifee society, also gave overwhelming powers to the Syedna to run the trust. It empowered him to unilaterally dismiss or appoint a trustee. Though Syedna is not part of either the trust or the society, he heads both of them by virtue of being a religious head.

Having established a vice-like grip on the trust, in 1963 (20 years before the expiry of the original lease), the trustees applied for renewal of lease on commercial terms. This was unusual for a trust which had restricted its activities to charity for a long time.

Two years later, another application was made to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (then the Bombay Municipal Corporation) to build a commercial complex-cum-hospital. However, the plan was rejected by the BMC as it required demolition of a mosque and desecration of Sir Admajee’s Tomb. The increase in the floor space index (FSI) sought by the trust by including 2,544 square yards of a Bohra cemetery and a freehold plot in the construction plan was also denied by the BMC.

In 1972, the Saifee Society sought permission from the charity commissioner to sub-lease the trust’s land to it. However, this move was objected to by Advocate Abid Merchant on behalf of the Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat and a stay was obtained in 1976. However, the Saifee Society came up with a back-dated agreement with the Adamjee Peerbhoy Trust which included a clause that empowered it to lease the trust’s properties “to any person or persons, including a limited company or a cooperative housing society or other incorporated body nominated by the lessees or their assigns.”

Story continues below this ad

The matter went to the high court and then to the Supreme Court in 1993. The apex court upheld the stay, which continues till today.

While the crime branch is seized of the case, senior officials are not willing to talk about it. The jamat had filed a case against the Syedna and his relatives in September last year. Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ranjit Singh Sharma told Express Newsline, “The case is very much under investigation, though we have not been able to decide about the course of action to be taken…it’s a sensitive matter.”