Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has criticised Mumbai's Breach Candy Club over its alleged “Europeans-only” trust membership provision, recalling that he was once thrown out of the elite club in the 1960s.
The controversy resurfaced after industrialist Harsh Goenka highlighted that only European passport holders can become trust members at the club, despite it operating on Maharashtra government land.
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Writing in an old blog post, Tharoor recalled, “I myself was thrown out of Breach Candy Club in Bombay in the mid '60s when an American classmate hoped he could ignore the whites and take an Indian friend along.”
He also posted on X saying: "There is absolutely no acceptable justification for a racist provision to survive on government land." He went on and said, "To say the club's constitution requires it is ridiculous. What about our country's constitution?"
There is absolutely no acceptable justification for a racist provision to survive on government land. To say the club's constitution requires it is ridiculous. What about our country's constitution? https://t.co/MtsWmH0rVI
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 27, 2026
Founded in 1878 as a European-only enclave, the club reportedly opened membership to Indians only in the 1960s, though its trust committee rules still allegedly restrict leadership positions to Europeans residing in Mumbai.
The governance structure of Mumbai's elite Breach Candy Club continues to reflect a deep institutional divide rooted in a constitution approved by the City Civil Court in 1967. Under the club's bylaws, all administrative authority is reserved for “Trust members”, a category restricted exclusively to “European inhabitants of Bombay”.
Only these members are eligible to serve as trustees or join the managing committee, giving them full control over governance, finances, and membership policies.
Meanwhile, the club's nearly 4,000 ordinary members — including prominent industrialists, diplomats, business executives and old-money families — pay premium fees and enjoy access to club facilities.
However, they have no voting rights in trustee matters and are barred from holding governing positions within the institution, as per India Today.
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