
The red-tiled pavements are wide and spotless, the trees sparse and planted in geometrically precise rows within parking lots the size of football fields Just know that there isn’t anyone like Radha Soami or Guruji, he is paramatma, he is God,” she says. “I haven’t heard of this and have nothing to say. He was accorded the status of minister.Ī big thank you to Babaji and everybody at Radha Soami Satsang Beasīack at the RSSB ashram in Bhati, when asked if she has heard of the recent controversy, Devi grows agitated, almost angry. In 2016, ahead of the Punjab assembly polls, Dhillon’s brother-in-law Parminder Singh Sekhon was appointed adviser to the then CM Parkash Singh Badal by the SAD-BJP government. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal met Dhillon multiple times in the run-up to their respective state assembly elections, and the guru is known to share a close relationship with the Badal family of Punjab. Today, from L.K Advani in the BJP, to Rahul Gandhi in the Congress, Dhillon is guru to a long, and powerful, list of high-profile politicians, celebrities and industrialists. To do this, Dhillon says, the brothers spent a reported Rs 440 crore through RHC on his behalf, adding that he “would not be made liable to repay any amount or interest”.Īlso read: Shivinder vs Malvinder: Everyone in India loves a Billionaire Brother Blowout In a 12 November affidavit, the RSSB chief finally said the Singh brothers had approached him in 2010 to buy more rights in REL. He was informed about the succession after a long flight, a close associate says, while he was dressed in jeans.Īfter the allegations surfaced, Dhillon denied owing any money to RHC Holdings, even after the Delhi High Court ordered him and 54 other associates, including his family, to cough up Rs 6,000 crore as repayment.īut now, while maintaining his debt-free innocence, Dhillon has finally owned up to financial transactions between him and the Ranbaxy brothers. The well-connected Babaji succeeded the Singh brothers’ maternal grandfather (his uncle) to become the guru of the popular sect in 1990. How is a spiritual guru related to all this? Dhillon is cousin to the Singhs’ mother, and assumed a father-like role for the boys after their own passed away in the late 1990s. The court had last year directed status quo on the deal, but the Japanese firm claimed in court that “certain transactions between IHH and Fortis violated the court’s directions”.Īlso read: Cases that took Malvinder, Shivinder Singh from Forbes billionaires’ list to police custody The decision came as the Japanese firm challenged the sale of a majority stake in Fortis Hospitals to Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare as part of its efforts to recover $500 million in dues from the Singhs. Both brothers were Friday held in contempt by the Supreme Court, in another case involving the sale of Ranbaxy to Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo. The tale only gets murkier, with Malvinder alleging that Shivinder had an ambition to one day head the powerful RSSB. This allegedly included the purchase of 2,60,000 sq ft of prime real estate in Delhi (near Select Citywalk Mall), 80,000 sq ft of property in Ahmedabad, 500,000 sq ft in Noida, three farmhouses in Asola, and 8,71,200 sq ft in Gurgaon, Live Mint reported. The money, Malvinder alleged, was transferred into the bank accounts of “Guruji” Dhillon and his associates in the form of loans made through a complicated network of smaller corporations, and used, in part, to expand the sect’s real-estate empire. Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon | Radha Soami Satsang Beas | In October, former billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, now on the verge of bankruptcy, were arrested by the Delhi Police economic offences wing (EOW) for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises.Įight months prior to that, Malvinder, the embattled business tycoon and former Ranbaxy, Religare and Fortis promoter, had filed a criminal complaint against his younger brother Shivinder, claiming that he conspired with a number of close associates to siphon off Rs 2,700 crore from their family’s holding company (RHC Holdings). The century-old spiritual organisation’s head, 64-year-old Gurinder Singh Dhillon, is at the centre of one of India’s most high-profile business fiascos this year. Materialism, fickle personal attachments, and capital-driven calendars of “eating, sleeping and accumulating personal wealth” are presented as modern-day obstacles to comprehending the true purpose of our lives.īut outside the cocoon of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) ashram in Bhati, Chhatarpur, the spiritual organisation’s moral messaging is becoming increasingly hard to believe.
