Some of the big names who Arvind Kejriwal accused yesterday of holding crores in bank accounts with HSBC in Geneva may have already issued denials, but the balance sheets and bungalows of the three — Parminder Singh Kalra, Praveen Sawhney and Vikram Dhirani — that the Indian Against Corruption (IAC) leader mentioned as beneficiaries of the bank’s purported hawala scheme offer an intriguing glimpse into south Delhi’s moneyed stratosphere.
Tucked away in the shadow of the Defence Colony flyover, Praveen Sawhney’s house at 6 Link Road, Jungpura Extension is a large, three-storied white building with a grilled gate through which the guard politely explains that there is no one home, except the house helps. Two cars stand parked in the driveway.
This is also the residential address of his father, Bhushan Lal Sawhney, in the balance-sheet of Sawhney Tyres Pvt Ltd, a firm that the junior Sawhney was mentioned in his statement to the Income Tax (I-T) department as a “non-functional concern”. With the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, however, the company that was incorporated in 1973 is “active” with a net profit of Rs 6 , 456 in financial year 2010-11 and total assets of Rs 5.67 lakh.
The statement that IAC has posted on its website also includes another company, Sawhney Rubbers Industries, a manufacturer of cycle tyres, details of which is unavailable on the MCA’s online portal. Sawhney’s main income, as per his deposition, is from a property that has been rented out to Samsung India Limited in Greater Noida. Yet, the swank Jungpura house and $1.8 million that was in Praveen Sawhney‘s HSBC account, as disclosed to the I-T department, in Geneva represent a very different sort of wealth.
Not far, at A-29 Friends Colony (East), too, the guard predictably claim that the owners aren’t home, but confirms that the two-storied house with a lush front garden is where Parminder Singh Kalra lives. The property is a ‘by appointment only’ address for Saket’s Gallerie NVYA, an entity stated in Kalra’s declaration to the I-T Department. The other company given in the statement is Omega Finhold Private Limited, where Kalra holds 96.99 per cent, and according to MCA records, it posted a total income of Rs 34.57 crore and a net loss of Rs 3.86 crore for the financial year 2011-12. Three other subsidiaries mentioned also posted losses last financial year. Kalra, as per the I-T department statement, opened and operated an account in HSBC, Zurich, and received about Rs 8-9 crore back from the bank.
Also nearby, Vikram Dhirani, the third individual named by IAC, unlike Kalra, was more successful in business. Karam Chand Chains Limited, incorporated in 1995 and registered at D-1039 New Friends Colony, where Dhirani holds about 78 per cent share registered a total income of Rs 17.16 crore and a profit of Rs 14.23 lakh for the financial year 2011-12, as per MCA records. During the same period, the firm, which has a facility at Bulandsahar Road in Ghaziabad, had reserves and surplus of Rs 4.6 crore, with loans and advances of Rs 1.74 crore and total assets of Rs 8.27 crore.
The company manufactures cycle chains for companies such as Chennai’s TI Cycles of India, according to the declaration made before the I-T department. There are two other firms mentioned, Karan Chand Rubber Industries and Aditya Exports, and two properties in south Delhi’s Defence Colony. However, according to the same declaration, Dhirani had deposited about Rs 12 crore in a HSBC Bank account in Dubai around 2006, without even travelling to the country. The ways of south Delhi’s well-heeled gentry are indeed unusual.
