High Profile India Club Members Quit En Masse

Mystery shrouds the en masse resignation of the rich and the famous from an outfit called India Club, which has allegedly collected crores of rupees from members worldwide.

The club, till recently, boasted of a high-profile list of governors, including Rajya Sabha chairman and the likely vice-presidential candidate of the country, Najma Heptullah; industrialists Adi Godrej, and Desh Bandhu Gupta, former cricketeer Sunil Gavaskar, legal practitioners - Supreme Court advocate Y P Trivedi and M L Bhakta of the leading solicitor firm Kanga and Co and hotel magnate Vivek Nair. In all, 18 national personalities -- who had initially lent their names to India Club - have resigned from the outfit. The other governors, who are alleged to be still on the board, reportedly include, among others, liquor baron Vijay Mallya, industrialists Deepak Banker, Tirupathi Khemka, Pune-based N A Kalyani and S K Modi.

 

The Club is believed to have been floated by K K Khandelwal and his son Shishir Khandelwal under the aegis of the Heritage India Club in 1994. The club claimed a joint venture with the Club Corporation of America and invited public to become members at the rate of Rs 3 lakh for a family and Rs 6 lakh for corporates.

On the basis of the high-profile Board of Governors and its affiliation to the Club Corporation of America, the Club is alleged to have amassed a huge fortune by enrolling about 250 members, of which 50 are learnt to have been NRIs.

Khandelwal denied that there were any resignations whatsoever from the club and said that we at the India Club have at all times acted in a bonafide manner and in good faith and will continue to maintain this high standard even in the future.

Regarding himself, he said: The Khandelwals have been in construction and electronics business for decades. I have a business background. We are the builders of Usha Kiran (one of the prestigious skyscrapers in Mumbai). He said the mischievous anonymous fax sent to newspaper offices is a reaction to court orders already passed in connection with the encroachment on the club property near Mantralaya - the state government headquarters.

He added: The board of governors of the India Club like Dilip Thakkar, Prakash Malik, Vivek Nair and others mentioned as persons who are supposed to have resigned as governors though they even today continue as governors.

However, this newspaper confirmed with some of the governors like Nana Chudasama, Trivedi and Nanik Rupani that they had indeed resigned.

The anonymous fax claimed that the Club promised a dream site in Nariman Point. While no such facility seems to have come up, the Club Corporation of America too is believed to have made it clear that it has dissociated itself from the joint venture in February-March 1997.

Supreme Court advocate Y P Trivedis letter is quite a revelation: ...I am utterly disillusioned with the club and my name should be deleted from amongst the governors of the club. In spite of this request, if the club keeps on misusing my name then I propose to take appropriate steps against it.

Khandelwal maintained that the India Club was a club of international standards.

A representative from the lawyer firm Nishit Desai, advisors to the Club Corporation of America, said that he was not certain of the existing status of the joint venture between his client and the India Club. He said that his firm had sent a message to the Club Corporation of America asking it to clarify its position vis-a-vis the India Club.