Authority: High Court at Calcutta, Civil Appellate Jurisdiction
Order Date: 27 July 2026
Case Overview
- Parties: Appellant – Parsi Zoroastrian Association; Respondents – Prochy N. Mehta and others.
- The appeal (APO/139/2023) challenges the judgment and order dated 11 May 2023 (GA/8/2023 and GA/9/2023) passed in the originating summons suit CSOS/1/2017.
- The originating summons suit was filed to interpret provisions of the Indenture of Trust dated 19 September 1915 of the Late Ervad Dhunjeebhoy Byramjee Mehta's Zoroastrian Anjuman Atash Adaran, including the right of children born of a Parsi mother and non‑Parsi father to worship at the Atash Adaran.
- Defendant No. 1, a trustee of the trust, died on 5 September 2020. New trustees were appointed on 29 September 2022, but this fact was not disclosed to the Court.
- Plaintiffs filed GA/9/2023 seeking substitution of the deceased trustee, alleging the defendants failed to inform them of the death and did not substitute the trustee promptly.
- The appellant filed GA/8/2023 seeking dismissal of the originating summons suit, arguing the plaintiffs had unclean hands and the substitution application was belated (approximately three years after the death).
- The Court observed that the right to sue survived the death of Defendant No. 1, the plaintiffs provided a plausible explanation for the delay, and the defendants had a duty to inform the Court of the trustee’s death, which they failed to do.
- Defendant No. 2 died on 29 August 2025 and was substituted by an order dated 27 November 2025.
- The Court found no merit in the appellant’s contention that CSOS/1/2017 should be dismissed for lack of cause of action or legal bar.
Final Outcome
- The appeal (APO/139/2023) and the connected application are dismissed without any order as to costs.
- The lower Court’s judgment allowing the substitution application (GA/9/2023) and dismissing the appellant’s application (GA/8/2023) stands.
Topics: Trust Law, Civil Procedure