The Hindu : International : Indian `curry' king in cash-for-peerage row

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 20, 2006

International

International

Indian `curry' king in cash-for-peerage row

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Sir Ghulam Noon, owner of one of Britain's biggest Indian food companies, finds himself at the centre of a growing "donation-for-peerage" scandal after it emerged that his nomination to the House of Lords has been blocked because he gave a "secret" loan to the Labour Party shortly before it recommended his name. Sir Ghulam is the second prominent businessman of Indian origin to suffer such an embarrassment.

Last week, Chai Patel, who runs an upmarket healthcare company, had his candidature rejected after it was revealed that he had loaned £1.5 million to the Labour Party weeks before his nomination. Both have acknowledged giving loans but denied that they expected a peerage in return.

"It was a small loan of £200,000 to £250,000. The peerage stuff was not even in the conversation," Sir Ghulam told The Sunday Times after it quoted sources in the Appointments Commission, which oversees the nominations, as saying it was "withdrawing its previous endorsement" of his nomination because neither he nor the Labour Party disclosed his loan. Mr. Patel, who has blamed the Labour Party for his name being dragged into the controversy, said he never expected anything in return.

"Absolutely not. If they said, `you will get this by signing this,' I would have walked out of the room," he said.

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