Suresh Kalmadi

Suresh Kalmadi (born 1 May 1944) is a tainted politician and senior sports administrator who is involved in many scams,.^[2][3] He was formerly a member of the Indian National Congress. He was a member of parliament from Pune till May 2014.^[4] He is known for his "Alleged" involvement in 2010 Commonwealth Games corruptions during his tenure as president of Indian Olympic Association and chairman of Common Wealth Games 2010. He was charged with conspiracy, forgery, misconduct and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and later arrested for the same on 25 April 2014.^[5]

Personal life

Suresh Kalmadi was born to Dr. K. Shamrao Kalmadi, who was a social doctor dedicated to serving the poor, and his mother was Shrimati Shanta Rao Kalmadi. His place of birth on Parliament website: Madras; on his personal website: Pune.^[6] He studied at St. Vincent’s High School, Pune in the state of Maharashtra, South West India; and then at Fergusson College, Pune. In 1960, he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakvasla, Pune, and in 1964, he joined the Air Force Flying Colleges in Jodhpur and Allahabad. He served the Indian Air Force between 1964–1972.^[7]

He is married to Shrimati Meera Kalmadi, and has two daughters and one son.

Early career

In April 1974 Kalmadi acquired an interest in Poona Coffee House, and three months later in July 1974 he acquired a dealership of Hindustan Petroleum for all its products.^[8] Kalmadi, a Pune boy, joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1960 and then the Indian Air Force as a pilot. He served in the force for six years and then was an instructor at NDA for two more years till 1974. He served through two wars - the 1965 and the 1971 wars against Pakistan, was also a recipient of eight medals in his career as a pilot. He opted for premature retirement and his big break came when he was spotted by Sanjay Gandhi in Pune, where he ran a fast food outlet.

Political career

In 1977, Kalmadi became the President of the Indian Youth Congress, Pune, and the very next year took over President-ship of the Youth Congress, Maharashtra, a post he held from 1978 to 1980. In 1980, as the President of the Maharashtra Athletics Association, Kalmadi undertook the selection trials for the Marathon team to represent the country at the Moscow Olympics. This soon led to the establishment of the Pune International Marathon. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha for three terms from 1982 to 1996, and again in 1998, a position that he has continuously held for the last 22 years. On 9 August 1985 he incorporated Sai Service Station Ltd., which is today his flagship company, and established a dealership of Maruti Udyog Ltd. By 1986 he had also added the dealership of Bajaj Auto Ltd. Today Sai Service Ltd. is one of the biggest dealership of Maruti Udyog Ltd in India. Kalmadi took over as the Chairman of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and in 1989 started the Pune Festival, which would soon become the Signature Festival associated with him. The Pune Festival celebrated its 15th edition in September 2003. He was also elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996, and to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004. Presently, he is the sitting MP from Pune. During the tenure of P. V. Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister of India, Suresh Kalmadi served as the Minister of State for Railways from 1995 to 1996. He presented the Railway Budget then as union minister of state for railways, the only MoS to do so.^[9] In 1996, Kalmadi became the President of the Indian Olympic Association and established a virtual stranglehold being re-elected unopposed for two subsequent four-year terms, on 11 October 2008 elected for the fourth time. He gathered more positions as a sports administrator - President, Asian Athletics Association (AAA) since 2001 and Life President Athletics Federation of India and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi from 3 to 14 October 2010.^{[10] [11]}

Career summary

Suresh Kalmadi at the inauguration of the First World Konkani Convention in 1995. He is dressed in a black coat, to the right.

^[12]

Controversies

Formula One 2011

Mr Kalmadi, as the Indian Olympic Association, signed an agreement to bring the Formula One Grand Prix to India in 2007. Later that year, the UK-based organizers Formula One Administration Limited signed a Rs 1600-crore contract in this regard with India-based JPSK Sports Private Limited. Records obtained by The Indian Express showed that Pune-based Sulba Realty Private Limited was a 13% shareholder in JPSK, along with Jaypee Group (74%). Kalmadi's son Sumeer was a director in Sulba Realty at the time, which would have implied a conflict of interest. While the JP in JPSK stood for Jaypee Group, it was alleged that the SK was a reference to Suresh/Sumeer Kalmadi. Records from the Registrar of Companies, India showed that a year after the company was floated, Kalmadi's daughter, Payal Aditya Bhartia, and his son-in-law, Aditya Bhartia, joined JPSK as independent directors.^[13]

Commonwealth Games 2010

Kalmadi's conduct around the 2010 Commonwealth Games came under scrutiny, with the Chief Vigilance Commission (India's anti-corruption organisation) asking the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe certain aspects of the games' organisation.^[14] For this, the opposition demanded Kalmadi's resignation.^[15]

On 25 April 2011, CBI arrested former CWG Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi in the Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) case. He was arrested under Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.^[16]

On 20 May 2011, CBI filed the first chargesheet in a special CBI court against Kalmadi. The CBI alleged that he was the main accused in awarding TSR system contract to a Swiss firm. The charge sheet said, "Kalmadi is the main accused as he was the person with all supreme powers. He had the supreme over-riding powers in the Organising Committee of the CWG, 2010." In addition to Kalmadi, the CBI named two companies and eight persons including OC former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and former Director General VK Verma as accused.^[17][18]

Kalmadi's membership of the Indian National Congress Party was suspended after being arrested and charged with corruption. On 26 April 2011 he was sacked from the post of president of the Indian Olympic Association.^[19] Later on, on 1 July 2013 he lost the election for the post of President of the Asian Athletics Association, a post which he had held for 13 consecutive years, losing to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad.^[20]

Suresh Kalmadi was in jail for 10 months and the court asked him to pay a surety amount of Rs. 500,000.^[21] Kalmadi was allowed by a Delhi court on 13 July 2012 to go to London for 2012 Olympics.^[22] He was, however, restrained on 25 July 2012 by the Delhi High court from participating in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, saying his participation can cause "embarrassment" to the nation.^[23]

He claimed to be suffering from dementia during course of investigation while in Tihar jail.^[24] Medical tests were not conclusive to be able to prove his claim.^[25]

See also

• Corruption in India

References