Current Events

91-year-old Sardarni Downs a Corporate Goliath:
Niamat Kaur vs. McDonald's & Vikram Bakshi

RAJIV SINGH

Niamat Kaur is lovin' it.

Every bit of it.

A Happy Meal from McDonald's, and that too after three years.

"Of course, I am happy," she says, with a child-like smile flashing across her face. "It took me three long years to reclaim my property from McDonald's," thunders the 91-year-old, ensconced in her cushy sofa at her Panchsheel Park bungalow in New Delhi, India.

Earlier this month, the Delhi high court asked McDonald's to vacate a three-floor building in Khan Market, India's costliest retail hub, and hand over its possession to Niamat Kaur, who had been fighting to reclaim her property ever since the lease deed with McDonald’s in February 2010.

The high court penalised McDonald's for overstaying and directed it to pay rent at the rate of Rs. 1.1 million a month from the date of expiry of the lease deed --  February 11, 2010 -- to the actual date of the handing over the property. It's a proper and reasonable rate of rent based on the prevailing market rate, the court said in its judgement. It has given eight weeks from the day of the judgement (July 1, 2013) for McDonald's to vacate the property.

When contacted, McDonald's India said it would appeal against the verdict.

"We are aggrieved by the verdict of the court," said a spokesperson for McDonald's India (North and East), "and intend filing an appeal before the appellate court. We have complete trust in the fairness of the judicial system of the country."

If McDonald's is aggrieved, Niamat Kaur is delighted.

"It feels great to fight it out and get your property back," says Niamat Kaur, who will turn 92 next August 15. "I always had faith in the judiciary and am glad it has not let me down," she adds, struggling to stand up from her sofa and shift to another one near her garden window.

Connaught Plaza Restaurants, a joint venture between Vikram Bakshi and McDonald Corporation, USA, entered into a lease agreement with Niamat Kaur on February 12, 2001 to use her 2,300 sq ft property in Khan Market for nine years. It was decided that the rent, which was Rs 250,000 per month to begin with, would be increased after five years @ 25% over the last rent paid. All went well till 2009.

In October 2009, Niamat Kaur wrote a letter to Connaught Plaza Restaurants, informing them about the impending expiry of the lease in February 2010. To renew the lease, she added, it should be renegotiated on fresh terms and as per the prevailing market rates. Subsequently, she met Bakshi at his office on November 3. On November 6, she again sent a letter, stating that the lease could be renewed for another nine years but at a monthly rate of Rs 2.575 million, with a 20% increment every three years. (In subsequent meetings her lawyers say she had brought down the rate to Rs 1.5 million.

It was then that the problem started.

They were neither willing to renew it nor vacate it, recalls Niamat Kaur.

"He [Vikram Bakshi] used to call me aunty. He even came to my house with his mother before signing the lease ... but at the time of renewal of the lease, he came with a bag of lies saying the lease was for 18 years ... I was hurt," she says.

The McDonald's spokesperson refutes charges that Bakshi lied. "This alleged accusation is neither part of arbitrators' award nor court's proceedings. Nothing but facts were stated during the arbitrators' proceedings." Bakshi never visited Kaur's residence with his mother, the spokesperson says. "Apart from meeting Niamat Kaur in the official capacity on two occasions, there was never an occasion for our Managing Director to meet her with his mother."

The company cited a 'letter of intent' allegedly signed by Niamat Kaur in 2001, saying she had agreed to let out the premises for 18 years, and the lease doesn't expire in February 2010 but in December 2010 when it started operating the outlet. It became clear that the matters wouldn't get resolved by negotiations.

GLOVES COME OFF

Niamat Kaur approached the court which appointed retired Delhi high court Chief Justice AP Shah as the arbitrator. Connaught Plaza Restaurants, in turn, slapped Rs 50 million damages on Niamat Kaur for ‘violating the lease.’

"Initially we thought that we would settle the case easily by negotiations," says Pratibha M Singh, the lawyer who fought the case on behalf of Niamat Kaur. "But I was wrong. And when counter-claims were made by them asking for money from Niamat Kaur, we realised they were going to be unreasonable. And then we decided to fight it hard," recollects the lawyer who worked on the case along with senior lawyers Harish Salve and Sandeep Sethi.

The high court proceedings and the eventual verdict make for a courageous story of a 91-year-old Sardarni who bravely faced cross-examinations and never wavered in her faith in the judicial system, avers Pratibha Singh.

"They accused her of lying during cross-examination, but she was confident of exposing their lies," Niamat Kaur’s lawyer said.


[Courtesy: The Economic Times. Edited for sikhchic.com]
July 20, 2013

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