Former chief justice Y K Sabharwal's sons are
in partnership with malldevelopers and multi-national
companies which stand to benefit from the sealing
drive launched under him
New Delhi: Former chief justice of India, Y K
Sabharwal, who unleashed a sealing drive against
small-time neighbourhood shops in Delhi, has close
links with leading mall developers.
One of the biggest mall
builders of the country, Business Park Town
Planners(BPTP), is a business partner of
Sabharwal's sons Chetan and Nitin.
BPTP's promoter and chairman, Kabul
Chawla, and his wife Anjali, are directors in
Sabharwal's company Pawan Impex Pvt Ltd,
which has its registered office at the ex
-CJ's residence at 3/81, Punjabi Bagh, as
reported by MiD DAY on May 2.
Pawan Impex, along with two other
firms, earlier had its registered office at 6, Moti
Lal Nehru Park, the official residence of Sabharwal
when he was a Supreme Court judge.
While Kabul Chawla became a director in Pawan Impex
on October 23, 2004, his wife Anjali was taken on
board on February 12, 2005. Sabharwal joined the
Supreme Court on January 28, 2000 and went on to
become the chief justice of India on November 2,
2005.
Big player
BPTP, with a paid up capital of Rs 232 crore, has
developed landmark malls, including CTC at Najafgarh
Road, CBD at Surajmal Vihar in East Delhi and Shop-in
Park, Shalimar Bagh, besides commercial and
residential complexes.
It is also coming up with malls and commercial
complexes in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida. The
company is headquartered at the DCM building at
Barakhamba Road while its marketing office is in M-11
Middle Circle, in Connaught Place.
Curiously, the virtual who's who of multi-national
companies are among the clients of BPTP. These
include Mc Donald's, Levis, Lee, Adidas, Nike, Pepe
Jeans, Woodland, Benetton, Lee Cooper and Biba.This
makes the association between the ex-CJ's family and
BPTP all the more significant.
MNCs blamed
There had been charges from traders and political
parties that MNCs and mall developers were behind the
sealing drive as they wanted to consolidate their
position in the Indian markets by wiping out
neighbourhood shops and forcing the consumers to rely
on their posh, and more expensive, outlets in malls.
Thousands of shops were sealed on Sabharwal's order,
while the government squirmed at the prospect of
traders turning against it. The Congress eventually
faced a defeat in the MCD elections.