Culling controversy: Can’t take away the farmer’s right to life and livelihood

An anathema to most welfare activists, removal is often the only solution for wildlife and people caught in acute, irreversible conflict

The Indian Express, 10 June 2016

In pockets where conflict is acute, the immediate option is to reduce the number of too many habitual crop-raiders. (Source: Express archive)

Union minister Maneka Gandhi has raised her voice against culling of wild animals declared vermin. She can’t be faulted for lack of consistency. Her organisation has opposed and occasionally stalled similar moves by different state governments in the past. But the stand undermines both human rights and wildlife conservation.

Many believe that culling is unnecessary because we can prevent crop-raiding by adopting non-invasive measures. It’s a misconception. Fencing fields merely shifts conflict to the next accessible cropland. Used extensively, it creates an enclosure for wildlife. Even selection of crops that traditionally repelled animals does not seem to work any longer. Ask the farmers in Sirmour how monkeys raid their garlic fields that they avoided till recently.

Another popular misconception is that herbivores raid crops only because they have little to eat inside forests which they are losing to human encroachment. No doubt every wild patch needs protection but wildlife in fringe forests will always be attracted by the more nutritious fare available outside.

So we must create buffer zones so that crops do not stand at the edge of the forest, promote non-edible crops in such areas, offer prompt compensation etc to limit conflict. But these are mostly long-term measures and work in situations where crop damage is still reasonable. In pockets where conflict is acute, the immediate option is to reduce the number of too many habitual crop-raiders.

A huge rural population in India still nourishes a cultural bond with nature. It is because of them, and not so much the city conservationists, that a sizeable population of wildlife still survives. The outlandish demands of the fanatically righteous animal welfare lobby are fast destroying this last genuine constituency.

Wildlife are protected by law because they are too few and require protection. But when certain pockets see a population boom in herbivores, farmers cannot wait for predators to reoccupy such areas and do the population control for them. Besides, when we don’t allow lawful intervention, the farmers often retaliate by illegal means. Only, their hostility targets all wildlife species in an area and a further alienated forest department struggles without local support.

No killing is pretty. But when rampaging wild animals threaten lives and livelihoods and turn the villager against conservation, keeping their numbers in check is very much part of the big Nature picture.

Sharjah firm bought London flat linked to Bhandari-Vadra email: land records

As reported by The Indian Express yesterday, the Income Tax Department has sent a query to Dubai via the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) for details of Mayfair’s ownership.

Vijay Rana & Jay Mazoomdaar

The Indian Express, 2 June 2016

Bhandari, according to sources in the IT Department, has admitted that the email trail recovered from his computer was that of messages exchanged between him, Vadra and Vadra’s assistant Manoj Arora. (Express photo: Oinam Anand)

THE property in London whose furnishings are said to be the subject of an April 2010 email between defence consultant Sanjay Bhandari and Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president, and which is being investigated by the Income Tax Department was bought in June that year by a Sharjah-based company allegedly linked to Bhandari, sources have said.

Land Registry records accessed by The Indian Express show that the property, Flat 12, 12 Bryanston Square, London W1H 2DN, was sold to Mayfair Investment FZE, a company incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, on June 18, 2010, for GBP 1,900,000 (approximately Rs 19 crore).

According to these records, the company has a Sharjah address: PO Box 49304 Hamriyah Free Zone.

As reported by The Indian Express yesterday, the Income Tax Department has sent a query to Dubai via the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) for details of Mayfair’s ownership. Similar queries have been sent to the British Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom regarding two more properties, one in Dubai and a second one in Grosvenor Hill Court in London.

Bhandari, according to sources in the IT Department, has admitted that the email trail recovered from his computer was that of messages exchanged between him, Vadra and Vadra’s assistant Manoj Arora.

Confronted with the batch of emails, including one dated April 4, 2010 — the only one sent from Vadra’s own email ID and signed off by him — he acknowledged the exchanges on the subject of finalising interiors for a London apartment.

Vadra’s lawyers have denied any association with Bhandari in a statement to NDTV which first reported on the Bhandari-Vadra link.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), after it received documents from Income Tax, today sent a notice to Bhandari asking him to furnish details of his bank accounts and properties.

A case under Official Secrets Act is also staring Bhandari in the face as IT officials said they have recovered several “confidential documents” belonging to the Ministry of Defence from Bhandari’s premises during a raid last month. These included minutes of the meeting of Defence acquisition committee. ED may file a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) once the Defence Ministry gives its opinion on the documents recovered. (With ENS)

To find how Tawang’s cranes will do in winter, Govt plans a study — in monsoon

During winter, migratory birds fly south (for warmer clime) to specific sites, where they spend a few weeks. The stretch along Nyamjang Chhu river is one of two such sites in Arunachal for black-necked cranes.

The Indian Express, 19 May 2016

In Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, locals consider black-necked crane an embodiment of the 6th Dalai Lama. (Photo: Lham Tsering)

What does the Environment Ministry do when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asks it to re-evaluate a hydel project in the middle of the rare black-necked crane’s wintering site and conduct a study “as expeditiously as possible”? It sets out to determine the water flow requirement at the wintering site in just 45 days — during the monsoon months of May and June.

Under scanner is the proposed 780 MW hydro-electricity project (HEP) at the wintering site — a 3-km stretch along the Nyamjang Chhu river — of the rare bird in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang. The Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF), a Tawang-based group led by Buddhist lamas, had moved the NGT against the environmental clearance.

On April 7, NGT suspended the environmental clearance granted in 2012 and directed the ministry to conduct a study of environmental flow (E-flow) requirement at the wintering site “as expeditiously as possible” through the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and make the report available for public consultation for a fresh appraisal of the project.

On April 28, the ministry wrote to NJC Hydro Power Ltd, the project developer, to “immediately” conduct a study through WII and “submit the report to the ministry within 45 days for further consideration”. The Tawang river basin study report accepted by the ministry also sought a water flow assessment, it said.

When contacted by The Indian Express, top ministry officials refused to comment on how a rapid study during May-June would prescribe the water flow required during the lean season to protect the crane’s wintering site. During winter, migratory birds fly south (for warmer clime) to specific sites, where they spend a few weeks. The stretch along Nyamjang Chhu river is one of two such sites in Arunachal for black-necked cranes.

On several occasions, officials and experts have gone on record accepting that the wintering site was never studied in the lean period and a four-season study was necessary to determine its E-flow requirements. Consider these:

* Noting that the “E-flow for this HEP has been indicated based on only one season study”, the ministry itself in its letter dated February 3, 2016 to the Arunachal Pradesh government recommended that “the E-flow values for Nyamjang Chhu project may be finalised with a four-season study with recommendations of the EAC (Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley and Hydroelectric projects).

* The Tawang river basin study was discussed in meetings of the EAC in July and August 2015. The minutes of the July 2015 meeting noted: “The developer of Nyamjang Chhu joined the study late. The sites could be visited only for one season i.e. pre-monsoon season. In absence of the data for three seasons, it was not possible to conclude and recommend on all aspects of the project. During the present study, the team could not directly observe or camera-trap the bird, as winter season was already over by the time the developer joined the study.”

* The minutes of the August 2015 EAC meeting noted that the E-flow for the project was “recommended based on only one-season study”. Therefore, it recommended that “the E-flow values for Nyamjang Chhu project are to be finalised by a four-season study to be undertaken by WII or equivalent”.

Since it was mooted in 2009, the Rs 7,000-crore Nyamjang Chhu hydel project has faced stiff resistance from locals who consider the black-necked crane an embodiment of the 6th Dalai Lama who was from Tawang. On May 2, two villagers were killed in police firing during a protest against the arrest of SMRF secretary Lobsang Gyatso.

NJC Hydro Power Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle of Bhilwara Energy Limited (BEL) for development of Nyamjang Chhu HEP. In a letter to the Arunachal Pradesh government in December 2013, NHPL expressed “concern” that the “outcome of the cumulative studies may affect the environment and forest clearance of Nyamjang Chhu HEP”.

Mystery BVI firm under scan for Aircel Maxis and Panama probe

Probing the Aircel Maxis case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sent a Letter Rogatory to Singapore this March for details on Advantage Strategic Consulting Singapore Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Advantage (India).

The Indian Express, 16 May 2016

INVESTMENTS made by a mystery company set up in tax haven British Virgin Islands (BVI) are now the subject of scrutiny in two official investigations, in the Aircel Maxis case and the Panama Papers probe.

In 2013-2014, Unison Global Investment Limited, the BVI company, invested 1.08 million pounds in two Jersey companies owned or controlled ultimately by Indiabulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut.

During the same period, it also invested 2.4 million pounds in a Singapore company which is a subsidiary of Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited where Karti Chidambaram held a majority stake before exiting in 2012.

Probing the Aircel Maxis case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sent a Letter Rogatory to Singapore this March for details on Advantage Strategic Consulting Singapore Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Advantage (India).

A multi-agency committee appointed on the instructions of the Prime Minister, which includes Income Tax, RBI, ED and the Financial Intelligence Unit, is scrutinising details of all those named in the Panama Papers. At least two queries have been sent out to all those named and the RBI has asked each to furnish details of all remittances made overseas under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

Set up in December 2012, Unison Global Investment Limited is among the companies listed by ED whose links with Advantage (Singapore) are being investigated.

On December 15, 2014, according to Singapore registry records obtained by The Indian Express, Unison (BVI) was allotted 49,00,000 preference shares by Advantage (Singapore) for about 2.4 million pounds.

Records of this transaction list Unison (BVI) with a Singapore address (08-21 Peninsula Plaza) but identify the company as “Foreign Entity not registered with ACRA (Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority)”.

Records of bank transactions made by Unison in Advantage (Singapore) had the company’s BVI address: OMC Chambers, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, Tortola. This, according to BVI registry records, was Unison’s registered address until July 2014 when the company changed its address to PO Box 116, Road Town, Tortola.

Responding on behalf of Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (India), a spokesperson said in an email: “All our transactions are reflected in our books. We are not aware of any unrelated third parties or transactions amongst them.”

When contacted, Karti Chidambaram said in an email: “I am neither a shareholder nor director of Advantage Strategic Consulting. I am not aware of any transactional details of the said companies.”

During 2010-2011, Ausbridge Holdings and Investments Pvt Ltd had bought 200,000 shares — amounting to a 66% equity stake — in Advantage Strategic. The 2011 annual return of Ausbridge Holdings shows that Karti Chidambaram owned 18,000 of the total 19,000 shares — 95% stake — in the company. In March 2012, Karti quit the directorship of Ausbridge and divested his stake.

Investigating the Aircel-Maxis scam, officials from the ED and the Income Tax department searched the offices of Karti Chidambaram in December 2015.

On March 7, former Home and Finance Minister P Chidambaram issued a statement on behalf of his family. “Karti runs a legitimate business, apart from managing inherited property. He has been an income tax assessee for many years. He has no undisclosed asset anywhere. If the Government is of the view that Mr Karti Chidambaram has undisclosed assets, I would ask the Government to make a list of such alleged undisclosed assets. Mr Karti Chidambaram will voluntarily execute any document necessary to transfer those assets (allegedly undisclosed) to the Government for a nominal consideration of Rupee 1,” it stated.

Besides investing in Advantage (Singapore), Unison (BVI) also invested 1.08 million pounds in three transactions between 2012 and 2014 to pick up 3,30,000 shares at 1 pound each and 7,50,000 shares at 1 pound each in two Jersey companies Clivedale Properties Limited and Four Leaf Limited respectively, according to annual returns filed by the Jersey companies.

According to Mossack Fonseca records that are part of the Panama Papers investigated by The Indian Express, these two Jersey companies belong to Clivedale Overseas Limited (Bahamas), owned by Sameer Gehlaut, the promoter of the Indiabulls Group, through a family trust.

Said Suresh Jain, responding on behalf of Sameer Gehlaut, in an email: “Unison is owned by family office of a foreign national. Unison has made private equity investment of 11% in Clivedale Properties Ltd., that is undertaking development project — Mansion at 9 Marylebone Lane. We are bound by confidentiality clause in the agreement of investment.”

According to records obtained from the BVI registry by The Indian Express, Unison (BVI) also entered into an agreement “in relation to the capital of Clivedale Properties” with HSBC Bank plc (London) in December 2014 and pledged its 3,30,000 shares of Clivedale Properties as collateral.

And in December 2015, Unison (BVI) entered into another agreement with Qatar National Bank SAQ (London) for the development of 4, 5, 6 Stanhope Gate and 18A and 18B Curzon Street, London, the Mayfair Park properties owned and being developed by Clivedale Overseas (Bahamas) through its subsidiaries. The secured liabilities were the Four Leaf’s 7,50,000 shares held by Unison (BVI).

Ken-Betwa gets wildlife go-ahead before site visit report

The Rs 10,000-crore project requires diversion of 5,258 hectares of forest land, including 4,141 hectares of Panna Tiger Reserve.

The Indian Express, 12 May 2016

The standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) Tuesday decided to clear Phase-I of the Ken-Betwa river linking project even though the expert committee constituted by the board is yet to submit its site visit report. The Rs 10,000-crore project requires diversion of 5,258 hectares of forest land, including 4,141 hectares of Panna Tiger Reserve.

Considering the impact of the project on the habitat and wildlife of Panna Tiger Reserve, the standing committee of the NBWL had decided in March that an expert committee comprising Dr Raman Sukumar, Dr H S Singh and a representative each from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Wildlife Institute of India, the state government and the ministry of water resources would conduct a site visit and file a feasibility report within a month.

The committee visited Panna in the second week of April and was supposed to submit its report by April 30. The agenda of Tuesday’s meeting noted that the report was still awaited. Instead, a presentation was made, based on which, say sources present at the meeting, the standing committee chaired by environment minister Prakash Javadekar went ahead and decided to clear the irrigation project “to help the drought affected areas of Bundelkhand”.

Dr H S Singh and Dr Raman Sukumar, non-government members of the expert panel and the standing committee of the NBWL, confirmed that the site visit report was yet to be submitted. “A presentation was made (at the meeting) and we will submit the report in a day or two. There will be certain safeguards. I cannot comment on clearances. You will get to know in a few days,” Dr Singh told The Indian Express after the meeting on Tuesday.

“We are yet to submit the report. I cannot comment on decisions taken by the ministry till the minutes of the meeting are made public. Our report will not compromise on facts,” said Dr Sukumar over phone on Wednesday. The draft minutes of Tuesday’s meetings, say sources in the ministry, are ready and will be released after obtaining the minister’s approval.

Originally mooted in the 1980s and conceived under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the Ken-Betwa river linking project was expected to take off this January but is yet to get environmental or forest clearances — both hinge on the user agency’s ability to address ecological concerns and satisfy the NBWL on the project’s potential impact on Panna Tiger Reserve.

Amitabh Bachchan denied link, records show he joined board meetings via phone

Two firms in Panama Papers record Amitabh Bachhan was director, joined meetings about share transfer, $1.75-m loan

The Indian Express, 21 April 2016

One of the two certificates of incumbency and board resolutions issued on December 12, 1994 which show Amitabh Bachchan as director of an offshore company. Click on the image to view the document.On April 4, as part of its ongoing investigation into The Panama Papers, The Indian Express reported that records of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca showed that actor Amitabh Bachchan served as director of four offshore shipping companies between 1993 and 1997.

A day after the report appeared, Bachchan — he did not respond to emails and phone calls from The Indian Express — issued a statement that he did not know any of the companies, had not been a director of any of them and that “it is possible that (his) name has been misused”.

New records obtained and investigated by The Indian Express contradict Bachchan’s version.

These show that Bachchan, as director of two of these firms, took part in their board meetings “by telephone conference.”

The first story | 4 shipping firms in tax havens, one link — Amitabh Bachchan

These meetings of Tramp Shipping Limited (Bahamas) and Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd (British Virgin Islands), were held on December 12, 1994.

The venue of these meetings: “38/39, The Esplanade, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, JE4 8SD.”

Bachchan’s name was also recorded in the list of directors and office bearers on the Certificate of Incumbency issued by both companies.

These records relate to a $1.75-million loan from a Jeddah-based investment company that also finds mention in Mossack Fonseca records investigated by The Indian Express.

The Indian Express had reported earlier that Mossack Fonseca records show Bachchan was appointed director and managing director of Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd (BVI), Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd and Tramp Shipping Ltd (Bahamas) in 1993. He was also listed under “Nombre Miembro” (member name) of these companies.

The Indian Express sent an email to Bachchan asking him about these new revelations and what action did he contemplate taking against those he alleges had “misused” his name.

In response, his publicist emailed a statement: “On the Panama disclosures, I wish to state that queries continue to be sent to me by the media. I would humbly request them to kindly direct these to the GOI (Government of India) where I, as a law abiding citizen have already sent, and shall continue to send, my responses. I stand by my earlier statement on the ‘misuse of my name’ in the matter and in any event the press reports do not disclose any illegal act committed by me.”

According to the new records, the boards of Sea Bulk Shipping Company (BVI) and Tramp Shipping Ltd (Bahamas) passed a resolution each on December 12, 1994.

These resolutions were in connection with a loan of $1.75 million from Dallah Albaraka Investment Company (DAICO) to one Constellation Ship Management (Bahamas) Ltd for purchasing all shares issued by Tramp Shipping and held by Sea Bulk Shipping.

For the loan, MV Sea Tramp, a ship owned by Tramp Shipping Ltd (Bahamas), was mortgaged to DAICO.

Both resolutions recorded Bachchan’s participation in the board meetings “by telephone conference”.

In their Certificate of Incumbency issued the same day, both companies also recorded Bachchan as director. The companies had the same directors, including Bachchan, and officers.

When contacted, Shezi Nackvi, chief of DAICO’s London operations, declined to comment.

According to Mossack Fonseca records, Umesh Sahai of Jersey-based corporate service provider City Management Ltd (now Minerva Trust) was one of the founder directors of the four shipping companies and he appointed Amitabh Bachchan as director and managing director in 1993.

He also signed the board resolutions that recorded Bachchan’s participation in the December 12, 1994 meetings.

Sahai did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking his comment on Bachchan’s statement denying any knowledge of the companies.

A mockery of both science and sensibility: What’s wrong with the tiger numbers

No, the tiger is not out of the woods. If numbers presented ahead of last week’s global tiger meet in New Delhi showed minor gains due to better counting methods, they also revealed massive losses.

The Indian Express, 19 April, 2016

On April 11, a day before ministers of 13 tiger range countries assembled in New Delhi to pledge support for the big cat, a statement by the WWF-International and Global Tiger Forum claimed that the global tiger count was on the rise for the first time in a century. The global media went into a tizzy with the press release, and the delegates at the tiger gala looked suitably proud.

The claim is little more than a mockery of both science and sensibility. It is like concluding that the number of stars in the sky has gone up just because the invention of better telescopes has led to the discovery of faraway, hitherto invisible, celestial bodies.

Better enumeration methods through refined camera trapping and DNA analysis, etc. now increasingly account for animals that were either missed or not identified as separate individuals previously. Yet, given that the elusive tiger’s habitat includes some of the most remote and hostile terrain on earth, the truth is that we simply do not know — and may never know — exactly how many tigers there are in the wild.

The new global figure of 3,890 is an aggregate of what each tiger country has claimed as its tiger population. It has no benchmark for accuracy, as different countries use different counting methods, ranging from refined extrapolation based on sophisticated camera trapping to rudimentary spoor (pug mark tracks, droppings, even scent) surveys. In fact, even the 2010 global tiger population of 3,200, against which the current figure of 3,890 is being compared to claim a gain, was only a guesstimate (See chart).

At different points and going by different ‘authoritative’ sources, the tiger population during 2009-11 could have been anything between 3,000 and 4,000. Somehow, the global consensus was to settle for 3,200, with a goal to double the number by 2022. Halfway to the deadline, some ‘encouraging’ data was perhaps in order.

The claim has already drawn flak from a number of tiger scientists, including some who were not invited to last week’s jamboree. While it is easy to attack the claim on numbers, some have questioned the feasibility of doubling the world’s tiger population by 2022, the goal of the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), built on the foundation of all 13 National Tiger Recovery Priorities (NTRPs).

GTRP had itself modified its ambitious target and eventually settled for a 60% increase — from 3,643 to 5,870 — by 2022. Though a tall order, achieving the goal is not a theoretical impossibility. A landmark 2010 study had identified 42 ‘source’ forests that contain almost 70% of all remaining wild tigers. The remaining populations are found in fringe habitats — ‘sink’ forests — that are typically fragmented and unsafe for the big cat.

The 2010 study went on to say: “Even source sites, however, have depressed tiger populations. Only five, all of which are in India, maintain tiger populations close (>80%) to their estimated carrying capacity. Thus, the recovery of populations in source sites alone would result in a 70% increase in the world’s tiger population.”

However, some of the authors of that study have now cautioned that doubling of the world’s tigers in 10 years was not a realistic proposition because 70%-90% of tigers were in ‘source’ populations with slow growth, and it was unlikely that the ‘sink’ populations would multiply rapidly.

In fact, few were ever hopeful of meeting the target of the ‘TX2: Double Wild Tigers’ programme. Likewise, the celebratory claim about a global rise in numbers for the first time in a century deserved no more than a chuckling dismissal. But for the timing. It came a day ahead of the Third Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, pledged support for conservation.

It also came at a time when India’s forests and its 2,000-odd surviving tigers are faced with an unprecedented development spree under a government committed to rapid single-window clearance for destroying forest land.

And at a time when successive governments at the Centre and in the states have succeeded in getting institutions such as the Wildlife Institute of India and National Tiger Conservation Authority to dilute their stand so that national highways can trifurcate the forests of central India without having to undertake adequate mitigation measures necessary for the tiger to have its right of way.

Since 2010, tigers may or may not have increased in numbers across the world. But they have certainly disappeared from 40% of the forests they roamed until 10 years ago. For all practical purposes, they are extinct in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and China. In India, the tiger habitat has shrunk by more than 25% in the last decade. This is certainly not the time for an orchestrated ‘All is well’ chant. And that is why this toast is in rather poor taste.

Missing from Oberoi stable: A firm each in the Bahamas, Hong Kong

'Oberoi Group has taken all necessary approvals from the Government of India in relation to the Amex Group/Oberoi Group joint venture...' — P R S Oberoi

The Indian Express, 8 April, 2016

In 2010, The Oberoi Group announced it had acquired 45.8 per cent stake from Amex Investment Ltd (Hong Kong) in their joint venture EIH Holdings Ltd (British Virgin Islands) that manages and invests in hotels outside India. The deal was struck through EIH International Limited (BVI) for US $ 45 million.

International law firm Mossack Fonseca records and an investigation by The Indian Express show that another joint venture with Amex, J&W Inc (Bahamas), was acquired by one Peran Limited (Hong Kong) in 2010. J&W Inc (Bahamas) already had Oberoi Group’s P R S Oberoi and Deepak Madhok as directors.

Mossack Fonseca document.

Pathmanaban Selvadurai, who is director of at least three EIH companies, is also director of Peran Limited (Hong Kong). Mossack Fonseca records show that the company’s original certificate of J&W Inc share was sent to Sudarshan Rao, vice president (finance) of the Oberoi Group, in 2011.

While the EIH Limited, the flagship company of the Oberoi Group, does not include J&W Inc (Bahamas) on the list of its many subsidiaries, it does include a similarly named company: J&W Hong Kong Limited. The company was incorporated in Hong Kong on September 26, 2006, a couple of months before the Oberoi Group entered J&W Inc (Bahamas).

Amex had stake in J&W Hong Kong Limited which, soon after incorporation, bought shares in EIH Holdings Ltd (BVI), the joint venture the Oberoi Group acquired from Amex in 2010. The Oberoi Group declined to discuss the ownership of Peran Limited (Hong Kong) and whether the acquisition of Amex stake in EIH Holdings also included the takeover of J&W Hong Kong and J&W Inc (Bahamas).

In an email response, P R S Oberoi, executive chairman of the Oberoi Group, said: “The business affairs of Amex Group/Oberoi Group joint venture are confidential and the parties are legally bound not to disclose or discuss those matters with third parties.” (See response below)

J&W Inc belonged to Kul Rattan Chadha, Indian-born Dutch businessman of MEXX fashion and CitizenM hotel chain fame and controller of Amex Investments. Until 2006, Chadha’s partner was Indian hotelier Jayant Nanda through his Panama company Richmond Enterprises SA.

Five months after Nanda’s exit, the Oberoi Group entered the picture. Peran Limited (Hong Kong), Mossack Fonseca records show, acquired 100 per cent stake in J&W Inc from Chadha’s Amex through two transfers of 49 per cent and 51per cent in November 2006 and July 2010, respectively.

In November 2006, Mossack Fonseca records show, Oberoi and Madhok were appointed directors and J&W Inc executed a debt waiver agreement with Amex Investment Limited, providing a reduction in an unspecified debt owed by the company to US $ 9,999,999 and issued promissory notes to Amex for the amount. The same day, Amex moved 490 of its 1,000 shares to Peran Limited (Hong Kong).

Deepak Madhok of the Oberoi Group signed on behalf of both Peran and J&W Inc.

On June 30, 2010, Chadha, along with the other Amex representative Nicolaas Peter van Lookeren Campagne, resigned from EIH Holdings (BVI), J&W Hong Kong Ltd and also J&W Inc. The next day, Mossack Fonseca records show, Amex transferred its remaining 510 shares of J&W Inc to Peran Limited. The purchase price was fixed at US $13.34 million which was then reduced to US $11.70 million.

Peran, Mossack Fonseca records show, paid only $ 4.33 million after setting off the rest against the amount owed by Amex to Peran under a “deed of set off between Amex, Peran and Oberoi Holdings Hong Kong Limited” and purchase of 13 preference shares by Amex from Peran in Oberoi Holdings Hong Kong Limited.

Incorporated in 1989, Oberoi Holdings Hong Kong Ltd is described on the BSE website (bseindia.com) as a subsidiary of Oberoi Hotels Pvt Ltd through which the latter entered into long-term global licensing agreements with EIH Holdings Ltd (BVI) for The Oberoi and Trident brands under which EIH Holdings got exclusive rights to own and operate Oberoi and Trident hotels globally except India.

On December 16, 2013, Mossack Fonseca records show, Madhok confirmed that the reliable accounting records for J&W Inc were located at Level 3, Podium Building,120 Collins Street, Melbourne, which is also the address listed for EIH Holdings Ltd (BVI) in Australia. Oberoi and Madhok remained directors and Peran Limited (Hong Kong) held all 1,000 shares of J&W Inc.

In May 2008, a Sydney-based legal firm appointed by Madhok instructed that Mossack Fonseca’s invoices should be addressed to J&W Inc and “sent to and for the attention of Deepak Madhok and there should be a note on the invoice that it will be payable by EIH Holdings Ltd”, an Oberoi Group company.

On July 7, 2010, an Australian legal company, Aequus Counsel, sent a bunch of documents to Mossack Fonseca’s Bahamas office. Authorised by Madhok, the forwarding note described the transfer of 510 ordinary shares in J&W Inc to EIH International Limited while the attached form showed transfer of shares from Amex to Peran.

RESPONSE: In an email response to queries from The Indian Express, P R S Oberoi wrote on March 30: “It is a matter of public record that Oberoi Group and Amex Group had a joint venture for hotels and hotel management outside of India for many years. The joint venture was conducted primarily through EIH Holdings Ltd, a British Virgin Islands Company, although there were many companies involved in the joint venture because the joint venture was global, operated in many countries at different times and extended for a long period of time. The joint venture was terminated in 2010 through the purchase by Oberoi Group of Amex Group’s interest in the joint venture company and all controlled/affiliated entities. The entire reported consideration was paid solely to and for the benefit of Amex Group.

“Amex Group is a private partnership whose business affairs are not public. The business affairs of Amex Group/Oberoi Group joint venture are confidential and the parties are legally bound not to disclose or discuss those matters with third parties.

“Oberoi Group has taken all necessary approvals from the Government of India in relation to the Amex Group/Oberoi Group joint venture including the establishment, modification and termination of the joint venture.

“However, for the record, your numbered paragraphs 1-7 (of a questionnaire emailed by The Indian Express) contain statements of fact which are simply not correct, taken completely out of context. The various questions you pose are based not only on those incorrect assertions but other assumptions which are not valid. For the reasons mentioned, I cannot correct your errors.

“The private business affairs of Oberoi Group and its partners are not subject to review by media and public examination on demand.”

On April 1, a letter from Oberoi said: “Please understand that the entities and confidential transactions, events and documents your asserted statements of fact and questions relate to go back more than 10 years. Those entities and confidential transactions, events and documents are both complex and voluminous involving many parties, countries and entities all over the world. It is not possible to respond in a meaningful way, even if we were able to, without discussing a great deal more confidential information than the responses you seek or contemplate.

“The asserted statements of fact on which your questions are based are incorrect, taken out of context or predicated on invalid assumptions. To be absolutely clear, I neither confirm nor deny any asserted statements of fact on which your questions are based.”

Mystery offshore firm was part of 2010 IPL Pune franchise bid, closed days later

Obdurate, registered in BVI, signed MoU with Videocon, Panchshil Group, Saif Ali, Kareena, Karisma.

The Indian Express, 7 April 2016

A 10-member consortium, which bid unsuccessfully for the Pune IPL team in March 2010, included an offshore company which, according to Mossack Fonseca documents investigated by The Indian Express, was acquired for unknown beneficiaries in December 2009.

“The consortium,” according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by 10 members in March 2010, “have formed a company P-Vision Sports Private Limited in which the parties will invest and own shares in the company for the purpose of operating the IPL franchise on successfully winning the bid”.

The MoU, part of the Mossack Fonseca records, earmarked 15 per cent share in the consortium for Obdurate Limited, a faceless company in the British Virgin Islands. It was shut down soon after the IPL franchise bidding.

According to the MoU, the largest stake of 33 per cent in the consortium was held by the Chordia family who control the Pune-based realty major Panchshil Group through Atul Chordia (9 per cent), his wife Varsha Chordia (9 per cent) and the family-run Courtyard Properties Private Limited (15 per cent).

Film stars Karisma and Kareena Kapoor held 4.5 per cent each and Kareena’s husband Saif Ali Khan Pataudi 9 per cent. Mumbai resident Manoj S Jain had 9 per cent.

Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon held 25 per cent through Videocon Industries Ltd (24.5 per cent) and Videocon International Electronics Ltd (0.5%).

Clause 8 of the MoU stated: “Obdurate shall be entitled to establish a wholly owned subsidiary to stand in its place for the purpose of investing in and holding shares of the company (P-Vision) and entering into the shareholders’ agreement.”

The MoU effectively allowed Obdurate Ltd and its undeclared owner to remain invisible in case the bidding was successful.

In 2010, then IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was accused of adding two clauses in the bid for two new franchises — that a bidder must have “a net worth of US $1 billion” and “give a bank guarantee of Rs 460 crore” — to filter out small bidders. Finally, the $4-billion Videocon Group — leading the 10-member consortium — and $5-billion Adani Group were the only bidders for the Pune and Ahmedabad franchises respectively.

Following an outcry, the IPL governing council cancelled the March 7 round of auction, dropped the two clauses and invited fresh bids. Subsequently, the P-Vision Sports Pvt Ltd consortium and the Adani Group lost out to Sahara Adventure Sports (for Pune) and Rendezvous Sports World Limited (for Kochi) in the bidding on March 21.

Registrar of Companies (RoC) records show that P-Vision Sports Pvt Ltd was incorporated as P-Vision Integrated Townships Pvt Ltd, a realty company, in February 2008. Atul and Sagar Chordia, its first directors, held 5,000 shares each at Rs 10 per share. The company was rechristened on February 22, 2010 — barely two weeks before the March 7 IPL bidding — and its purpose was changed from real estate development to promotion of sports.

As the company set out to distribute stake and become a 10-member consortium to bid for an IPL franchise, Venugopal Dhoot and Manoj Jain were appointed directors on February 27, 2010 and Sagar Chordia left the board, RoC records show. After the bid failed in March, Jain and Dhoot resigned as directors in April 2010, and Sagar Chordia returned.

According to Mossack Fonseca records, Obdurate Ltd was incorporated in October 2009 as a shelf company and acquired on December 23 that year by CM Management Suisse SA (CM SKYE), a Swiss financial service provider. Requested to provide directors and shareholders for Obdurate Ltd, Mossack Fonseca appointed in-house Seychelles companies Roselle Ltd and Gudson Ltd as directors, and issued all 50,000 shares to Puffin Agencies Limited of Gibraltar.

Mossack Fonseca records show that on March 4, 2010, it sent the IPL bidding papers, signed by director Roselle Ltd on behalf of Obdurate Ltd, to Charles Mia, a London law firm. Less than two months later, on April 27, following the unsuccessful bidding, CM SKYE asked Mossack Fonseca to shut down the company which “has no assets or liabilities and is therefore no longer required”.

In the few months it existed, Obdurate Ltd or the firms handling the affairs of the company never disclosed any information about the beneficiary owner to Mossack Fonseca. On receiving CM SKYE’s urgent request for signed bidding documents on March 3, Mossack Fonseca’s London office on March 5 refused to comply until details of the company’s beneficiary owner were provided.

But Mossack Fonseca’s Isle of Man office, which too had received the CM SKYE request, had forwarded it to its BVI office where its legal cell had already sent the required signed documents on March 4.

Subsequently, three reminders from Mossack Fonseca’s London office to CM SKYE on March 15 and 19, and April 1, seeking details of the ultimate beneficiary owner of Obdurate Ltd elicited no response. The company was deactivated on May 12, and struck off on April 30, 2011.

The P-Vision consortium was disbanded after the failed bid in March 2010. The company, however, is active and retains sports promotion as its objective.

RESPONSE: In an email, Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon said: “I am concerned only with Videocon & its 25% stake in P-Vision Sports Pvt Ltd. There were other members, whose details I am not privy to. So I do not know Obdurate Ltd (BVI) and any offering of sweat equity thereof. It (the MoU) was only desired share holding pattern, which we suggested to be post winning of franchise/bid. I am not concerned with MoU except our stake of 25%, as it was drafted by the lawyers at the instance of Mr Atul Chordia.”

In an email sent on March 28, Atul Chordia said the Panchshil Group had always held 100% of the equity shares of P-Vision, and that Obdurate Ltd never held any equity shares in the company. Told that the shareholding agreement in the MoU was to come into effect on winning the 2010 bid, he did not respond.

Responding to an email for comments from Kareena and Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor’s office said: “Kareena is not in town. We are not able to get in touch with them.”

Manoj Jain was not available for comment. Saif Ali Khan did not respond to messages and emails.

Two months after Adani brother set up firm in Bahamas, a request to change name to Shah

On April 20, 2005, Vinod and Rakesh signed a resolution, replacing Mossack Fonseca with Overseas Management Company (Bahamas) as registered agent. The transfer was completed on July 21, 2005.

The Indian Express, 5 April 2016

Months after the formation of the Adani Group’s flagship company Adani Exports Limited — now Adani Enterprises Limited — in 1993, industrialist Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Shantilal Shah Adani set up a company in the Bahamas in January 1994.

Vinod looks after the Adani Group’s overseas operations and his son Pranav is a director of Adani Enterprises Limited.

Corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca’s records, accessed by The Indian Express, show that GA International Inc was incorporated in the Bahamas by Vinod S Adani on January 4, 1994.

Vinod and his wife Ranjanben were its two directors and held equal stake in the company through a bearer share each. Mossack Fonseca was appointed the registered agent.

Within two months of incorporation, Mossack Fonseca records show, GA International’s administrator Falcon Management Limited (Isle of Man) wanted to correct “the spelling” of Adani to Shah.

In July, 1995, GA International Inc sought to rename itself Agri Exports Limited. But the plan fell through because the proposed name was too similar to an existing international business company (IBC).

On April 24, 1996, Ranjanben resigned and Rakesh Shantilal Shah, according to the records, was appointed director in GA International Inc.

Adani Group documents of 2009 show Rakesh S Shah as director in three group companies — Adani Power (Overseas) Limited (UAE), Adani Global FZE (UAE) and Chemoil Adani PTE Limited (Singapore) — along with Vinod S Adani, and one of the promoter group shareholders in Adani Enterprises Limited.

According to Mossack Fonseca records, GA International Inc formally resolved on September 23, 1996 that Vinod Shantilal Adani wished to be known as Vinod Shantilal Shah. The records duly corrected all documents, backdating since 1994.

In August 26, 1997, Mossack Fonseca received a request from one Fortress Management Ltd (Isle of Man), seeking details of the beneficial owner, directors and shareholders of GA International Inc. The company instructed the firm not to “release any information”.

On April 20, 2005, Vinod and Rakesh signed a resolution, replacing Mossack Fonseca with Overseas Management Company (Bahamas) as registered agent. The transfer was completed on July 21, 2005.

During its 11-year stint as the registered agent, Mossack Fonseca was asked by GA International Inc to issue Certificates of Incorporation and Good Standing on several occasions.

In company records, the address for Vinod, wife Ranjanben and Rakesh was “C/o NR Doshi & Co, PO Box 13742 Deira (Dubai) UAE”. On their website, N R Doshi and Partners describe themselves as “auditors, business consultants and tax advisors”.

When The Indian Express sought comments, both Vinod and Rakesh Adani declined to respond.

SHAREHOLDING – Vinod Adani and his wife as shareholders of GA International Inc (Bahamas)NAMECHANGE – Gautam Adani changed his surname to Shah on company records of GA International Inc (Bahamas)OVERWRITE – Adani replaced by Shah in company records of GA International Inc (Bahamas)SIGNATURES – Vinod and Rakesh Shah Adani signed as directors of GA International Inc (Bahamas)

Paying for real estate deals: Karnal to London via Bahamas, the route Indiabulls promoter took

Each knot of chain linking SG Family Trust to offshore companies reported to regulators but ownership of London properties not made public.

The Indian Express, 3 April 2016

Indiabulls, one of the country’s largest realty groups controlled by Sameer Gehlaut, brother Nagendra and father Balwan Singh, made headlines in June 2014 when it acquired a 87444-sq ft property for GBP 155 million at Hanover Square in London.

Before Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd entered the UK market, Sameer Gehlaut acquired at least three top London properties through family entities in Karnal, Delhi, Bahamas, Jersey and UK. Currently being developed as residential and hotel projects, these properties are owned by SG Family Trust, set up in October 2012 for the benefit of the family.

Perpetual Management Private Limited, trustee of the SG Family Trust, is owned by Haryana Mahila Congress chief and ex-MLA Sumita Singh and her husband Jagdeep Singh Virk, parents of Sameer’s wife Divya Gehlaut.

Records of law firm Mossack Fonseca (MF), reviewed by The Indian Express, and subsequent inquiries reveal that the SG Family Trust owns Calleis Infrastructure Limited (Delhi) which, in turn, owns Clivedale Overseas Limited (Bahamas) which again “owns a number of subsidiaries based in Bahamas, Mauritius, UK and Jersey”. Among these are wholly owned subsidiary Clivedale Ventures Limited (UK) and joint ventures Clivedale Properties Limited (Jersey) and Ainsley Holdings Limited (Bahamas).

While each knot of this ownership chain that connects the SG Family Trust, registered at the Karnal address of Gehlaut’s in-laws, to companies in Jersey, Mauritius and UK via Delhi (Calleis Infrastructure) and Bahamas (Clivedale Overseas), has been duly reported to the regulators, the Gehlaut family’s ownership of the London properties were not made public.

Clivedale owns three London properties: 4, 5 and 6 Stanhope Gate where 18 plush apartments are coming up as Mayfair Park Residences; 9 Marylebone Lane where 22 contemporary apartments are being constructed as The Mansion; and 20,000 sq ft of office space at 73 Brook Street. Along with these three projects, Indiabull’s Hanover Square project is also featured on the website (clivedale.com) of Clivedale (UK).

An email to Mossack Fonseca on transferring the ownership of Clivedale (Bahamas) from individuals to “a Trust established by those individuals”.

Indiabulls Group official Ajit Mittal, in an email, said there are “no financial transactions or co-mingling of interests”between Clivedale and Indiabulls. Different Clivedale companies are frequently referred to as “a part”, “UK subsidiary”or “the development arm”of the Indiabulls Group in the British media. Tarun Tyagi, CEO of Clivedale (UK), describes himself also as CEO, Indiabulls Real Estate Overseas.

Sameer Gehlaut, in an email, said: “All details of Clivedale Overseas Ltd (Bahamas) investments in various subsidiaries in UK or Jersey are duly disclosed to the RBI in detailed APRs (annual performance reports). We have not released any press releases of Clivedale subsidiaries as these are private companies and further no articles of Clivedale have appeared in any national newspapers/magazines.”

He added that Indiabulls, as a listed company, announced acquisition of the Hanover Square property in London.

Records of its registered agent MF show that from GBP 50,000 in February 2011, the authorised capital of Clivedale Overseas (Bahamas) increased, in stages, to GBP 250 million by March 2013. Soon after, on April 16, 2013, Clivedale (Bahamas) sought MF’s advice on transferring ownership of stakeholder company Calleis Infrastructure from “individuals, to a Trust established by those individuals for their own benefit (and their children’s benefit)”. The legal team of MF assured that such a change would not have to be reported to the registry in the Bahamas.

“Callies Infrastructure was owned by me and my wife Divya Gehlaut up to 2012. SG Family Trust was set up in 2012 as an Indian Trust to hold my family assets for my children and succession planning. The ownership of Callies Infrastructure was transferred to SG Family Trust in 2012. The returns of SG Family Trust and Callies Infrastructure are filed regularly with Indian tax authorities,” wrote Sameer Gehlaut in the email.

Since the incorporation of Clivedale (UK) in April 2012, all its shares — 19.3 million at GBP 1 per share — have been issued to Clivedale Overseas Limited (Bahamas). Registered in February 2011, Clivedale (Bahamas) has until now issued 75.5 million shares at GBP 1 per share and the entire lot is held by Calleis Infrastructure Private Limited, registered in May 2011 at New Delhi’s 296 Forest Lane, Sainik Farms.

The SG Trust held all shares — except one share held by Sameer Gehlaut himself — in Calleis Infrastructure Ltd worth Rs 9.75 crore but acquired at a premium for over Rs 300 crore. Between June 2011 and November 2015, Calleis Infrastructure invested over Rs 800 crore in Clivedale Overseas (Bahamas).

“SG Family Trust is capitalised by me from time to time through my annual dividends of circa Rs 350-450 crores per year. All funds in Callies Infrastructure are only invested by SG Family Trust and by me. All our overseas investments are made under route of overseas direct investments and duly disclosed to RBI as per RBI laid out procedure of intimation through authorised dealer (remittance bank). Right from the first investment in 2011 made by Callies Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, to acquire shares of Clivedale Overseas Ltd, Bahamas, all intimations are made to RBI from time to time,” Gehlaut stated in the email.

While Gehlaut and Mittal put the net worth of Indiabulls Real Estate and Calleis Infrastructure at Rs 7,000 crore and Rs 850 crore respectively, they did not specify the net worth of Clivedale Overseas (Bahamas) which owns the London properties through its subsidiaries for the Gehlaut family.