Nirpal Singh Riat gave an award to Ghazal Maestro late Jagjit Singh at the Houses of Common.
He received it in 2011 from Queen Elizabeth II for services to charity and the Punjabi community. The council took him to court and judges slapped him with a £300,000 (about Rs 3.8 crore) fine. His forfeiture follows that of two other British Indians, Anil Bhanot, MD of Hindu Council UK, and Tory peer Rami Ranger, who had their honours withdrawn in 2024. Born in Nairobi, Riat went to school in Jalandhar, aged 11 to 14, then moved to UK.
Earlier this month Ranger won the right to judicial review of the decision to strip him of his CBE.
Nirpal Singh Riat’s OBE was revoked this month for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”, the cabinet office said. But in 2023 Hounslow Council branded him a rogue landlord for his management of 22 properties where it claimed tenants lived in “appalling conditions” and accused him of illegally converting a property into flats and illegally renting out an outbuilding. Riat told TOI on Thursday that he disputes some of these allegations, which he says are “fabricated”. Regardless, a Hounslow councillor lobbied the honours forfeiture committee, which sits within the cabinet office, to get his honours withdrawn, he told TOI. “I didn’t push it hard enough as I didn’t think it would go this far,” he told TOI. “He is the first person and I will be the next I guess,” Riat said.
A self-made wealthy British Indian west London property developer has had his OBE forfeited by King Charles for allegedly renting out illegally converted homes in terrible condition. Once notified, his lawyer wrote to the committee disputing the claims but never got a response. Like Ranger, Riat feels the system of forfeiture is unfair and opaque. “I am planning a judicial review. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.