{Of course,R. K. Gupta wasn't the only middleman in the Sukhoi aircraft deal. A mysteriousgentleman by the name of Sudeep Choudhary was the main broker in the Rs. 36,000crore fighter aircraft deal. More of him later. Our next stop will be MohinderSingh Sahni, Consul General of Belize and resident of Vasant Vihar. Pant takesus to him. In the beginning Pant talks about the deals Sahni has done.}
PANT:…six crores that was…924 crore. That was the biggest deal he made.
TEHELKA: 924 crore that was the Czechslovakian deal.
PANT: Czechslovakian deal. Skoda.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Pipeline and other things.
TEHELKA: Pipeline…it is a defence deal?
PANT: No, pipeline. Petroleum and Natural Gas and all…
TEHELKA: That is what that Oman, that Oman, that pipeline of…
PANT: Gandhidham, he used to go. GAIL, Gas Authority Of India. He used togo to Gandhidham, Gujarat, Jaipur and all those places.
TEHELKA: He is going to be, paid for also in that dealing.
PANT: 924, 26 crore only was there.
TEHELKA: This man was the mediator?
PANT: Haan, he is the man basically, who got it done.
TEHELKA: Okay.
PANT: That's how he got the money for his farmhouses and all thiseverything. Twenty crore was paid.
TEHELKA: Twenty-four crore.
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{A briefdigression to Colonel Berry (Retd.) whom Sahni uses as a consultant for someprojects. Berry, here, is in the process of cutting Sahni off from his deal withWest End, hoping instead to handle the entire West End project himself. HereBerry talks about some of the deals where Sahni has been a middleman. WhileSahni is currently concentrating on Russian deals, he has also tied up forborder fencing work using contacts in the Home Ministry.}
TEHELKA:You have any idea, about recently, how many deals he has struck?
LT.COL. BERRY: Must be around two-three deals.
TEHELKA: Big deal?
LT.COL. BERRY: I suppose, because I have not been involved on those. Idon't know. Because the naval and air force, yes, naval particularly.
TEHELKA: Submarine deals?
LT.COL. BERRY: Not submarine, connected with submarine.
TEHELKA: With whom?
LT.COL. BERRY: I don't know the name of the company. Some KGB. Not KGB,KBG. Something like that, some Russian company only.
TEHELKA: It's for the Navy?
LT.COL. BERRY: Haan, that he has.
TEHELKA: That is a weapon or something else?
LT.COL. BERRY: It is a system, complete system.
TEHELKA: He was the middleman?
LT.COL. BERRY: Haan, yeah.
TEHELKA: He played the key role?
LT.COL. BERRY: Key role or sometimes luck plays the key role.
TEHELKA: But he succeeded?
LT.COL. BERRY: He succeeded.
TEHELKA: Okay, then any other deals he struck?
LT.COL. BERRY: Not my knowledge, but I believe long back he has done somedeal in tyres and thing like that.
TEHELKA: For whom? MoD? Defence?
LT.COL. BERRY: For air force I think.
TEHELKA: Air force? That is what kind of tyre?
LT.COL. BERRY: Hmm.
TEHELKA: Tyres means what kind of tyre.
LT.COL. BERRY: These air force tyres.
TEHELKA: Fighter, fighter tyres?
LT.COL. BERRY: Yeah, it is a big thing. I mean, volume-wise.
TEHELKA: That's also from Russia?
LT.COL. BERRY: Yes, his base is Russia.
TEHELKA: Not, in the European countries?
LT.COL. BERRY: He is trying to build up in Germany, but slowly, slowly.
TEHELKA: He's not succeed?
LT.COL. BERRY: You see, nothing succeeds like success.
TEHELKA: Exact, that is true. I want to know something about Sahni, thatis what I am asking you, and what other deals you know.
LT.COL. BERRY: I don't know any other particular things.
TEHELKA: He told me that he is planning to, he is on the way of T-90tanks.
LT.COL. BERRY: He is trying, yes, let's see whether he succeeds or not.
TEHELKA: No, that day I saw some of the Russian was sitting with him.
LT.COL. BERRY: Hmm.
TEHELKA: Russian was sitting with him.
LT.COL. BERRY: There are plenty of Russians…keep coming. That therewill be no dearth of people coming here.
TEHELKA: Okay.
LT.COL. BERRY: That is not to be taken as a whether he can do your work.
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{In asubsequent meeting with Sahni when West End was lobbying with him to becometheir middleman, he sets up an internal evaluation meeting of West End'sproducts, comparing them with the specifications of their competitors. Sahnihimself has more than a dozen top ranked army officers on his consultancy rolls.}
LT.COL.BERRY:Whatever he is saying is right that way and things are workable.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: If we put a political pressure…
LT.COL. BERRY: Exactly, exactly. We'll talk about these things tomorrow.First you talk.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: That talks will be done, that is our internal matter.Your technical advice is that this product can beat others.
LT.COL.BERRY:Can fit into…
KALIA: …and get into the next lot.
LT.COL. BERRY: Next lot.
KALIA: Do not interfere with what has happened so far. Talk about thenext lot. You should come into that, whatever evaluation…new piece…
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: So we will put pressure for it. If it doesn't becomefinal. Behan chod, so we will put pressure on him this way if it isnot…we will get the orders. When the next one will come, then the inquiry willstart on it.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: And do you have any idea whether the government willtake out a fraud one or not.
KALIA: I'll tell you.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Okay.
KALIA: He is basically himself involved in it.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Hmm? Who?
LT.COL. BERRY: Technical…technical I can tell you…
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Rest, whichever government is there that will take itout, that I will find out myself.
LT.COL. BERRY: All right. Okay. If that's the way you want to do, it'sokay.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: No, no, I will tell him. But the question is in thishe has no role. You try to understand this matter.
LT.COL. BERRY: All right. Okay.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: His role will come when he will handle thisparticular file. At this point of time, I wanted your advice…
LT.COL. BERRY: That technically…
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: That this product is better than the competitors. Yousay "yes"…
LT.COL. BERRY: Technically it is workable.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: You are not understanding what I'm trying to say.Workable means it is at par. What they are claiming that minus 40 degree,whether it is…
LT.COL. BERRY: No, minus 40 is more than par but it is got to be put bythem that it should be…this is what we want.
KALIA: How many pieces do they require which will work under minus 40?
LT.COL. BERRY: Yes, yes.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Listen to me, isn't it Sukhwinder's subject?
LT.COL. BERRY: No, no.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Once he came to me with some specific issues of hisproduct. Do you remember that at that time you said it was his subject?
LT.COL. BERRY: No…technical… If I can…he'll also understand…noproblem.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: No, why I am saying…
LT.COL. BERRY: Technically…
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: …Probably it is not Signal's demand.
LT.COL. BERRY: No, this is not Signals. This is not Signals.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: This is not Signal?
LT.COL. BERRY: No, no.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: So we…
LT.COL. BERRY: Bombay. It is…
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: It is infantry…do they require?
TEHELKA: This is the infantry. They are the users.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Shankar Prasad?
TEHELKA: Shankar Prasad.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: So, then if he can…
KALIA: But Signal…person is included in the committee. That is all.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: No, but demand generates from…
LT.COL. BERRY: The infantry.
KALIA: Infantry.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: That's the main thing. So now we have direct accessto Shankar Prasad. So then we…I can get you this kind of personal attentionwhere he can push…
TEHELKA: Already Mr. PANT talked to Shankar Prasad this matter. Heagreed…this is good thing. He agreed.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Mr. PANT…you should get it from very highlevel. You should understand…
In anothermeeting Sahni talks about
approaching BJP President Bangaru Laxman
MOHINDER PALSAHNI: Iwill put you to Mr. Randhawa, who is my technical operator. Then he can adviseus how to go about. You are agreeing?
TEHELKA: I agree.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Then we can. We'll find a way. Once we play the game,we'll find some route. Sir, Bangaru's line also is excellent, hain?
PANT: You go side by side. Both.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Bangaru's…trouble with him is…
TEHELKA: Hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: We have to pay money straight away.
TEHELKA: We can pay the money. No problem.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Okay.
TEHELKA: Tell me how much?
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: No, I will tell you. I can't say like this.
TEHELKA: Without money this won't be work out. Very frankly.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: The main thing is that, you have to give me thecomparison of El-Op…
TEHELKA: Price-wise? Price list?
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: No. Price is not the issue. The issue is thetechnical comparison. If we have to beat our enemy, we should know what we aredoing.
TEHELKA: Hmm.
PANT: Technical comparison. El-Op and CSF.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: And if your product is better…
TEHELKA: Hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: …you will enter into the game.
[Pause]
PANT: I'll get it from Tewari.
TEHELKA: Yeah, yeah.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: You've…your product is better?
TEHELKA: More and more better.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Then I'm sure we can enter.
[Pause]
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: If PCO is broken…
PANT: Hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Then we'll have very big business.
PANT: Hmm.
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MOHINDER PALSAHNI:We want to beat them.
[Someone knocks on the door and Sahni talks to him]
TEHELKA: Then can you…can you…sir, we can work out Bangaru line also.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: I can. Hundred per cent. Not even ninety-nine. Let'snot talk blah-blah. We should work…if tomorrow we fail even in the technicalend…
TEHELKA: Hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: …there is no use talking to Bangaru.
TEHELKA: Yeah. Okay.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: I have to make a full case, draft a letter, make anote…why you should be taken.
TEHELKA: Okay, hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: If he speaks…
TEHELKA: Hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: ...and he coins
TEHELKA: Hmm
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: …that tomorrow the note comes from the ministry.
TEHELKA: Hmm
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: …that "Nothing doing, these products arebetter," you are out.
TEHELKA: Okay.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Let me first say why you…I should be entertained.
TEHELKA: Hmm.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: Then Bangaru line is hundred per cent.
TEHELKA: Okay.
MOHINDER PAL SAHNI: I have to prepare a note. On the paper I should beNapolean.
TEHELKA: Okay, okay.
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{Meanwhile,Colonel Berry is showing some entrepreneural spirit. He brings Major S.J. Singh(Retd.) to meet West End in a five-star hotel hoping to take away a client fromMohinder Singh Sahni. Major Singh is a smooth customer.
He was involved with Bofors in the beginning in its deals in India around thetime that the company acquired its notorious reputation. Major Singh makes avery interesting arms dealer. He starts off very colourfully. He has no
qualms about calling himself a 'fixer'. In the beginning he states how he got alaser-guided bomb, which failed 5 tests out of 6, cleared.}
TEHELKA:Sir, I met you that day.
MAJOR S.J. SINGH: Yes, we hardly spoke to each other. I was only listening andnot speaking out.
TEHELKA: Okay, okay. Sir, where are you staying in Delhi?
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: I stay in Gurgaon. DLF.
LT. COL. BERRY: He'll be able to handle the whole thing. You have thechoices. You can ask him whatever you want to ask for that.
TEHELKA: Sir, recently you've done any big deal.
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: I keep doing for others. I am, basically, you can callme a fixer. I will use a very crude word but that is what it is. Okay? Like whenyou are in trouble you come to me and I sort you out…your problem. When he isin trouble, he comes to me and then I have my friends at different levels. Ihave friends in the ministry, the bureaucracy, I have friends in the ministry,the politics side. I have my friends in the defence services whether it is army,navy, air force. And then I have friends at the junior level which give youinformation. So that's how things work…the last work where we met last time Idid for him.
TEHELKA: For Mr. Sahni.
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: Yeah, there was a deal of Krasnopol. That was one 50crore deal I…. It was organised by me. I got everything sorted out. It wasfixed up
TEHELKA: In the Defence?
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: In the defence. I am talking in the defence. It was aRussian missile. Bomb. This is laser-guided bomb. It was not being clearedand…
TEHELKA: Due to what?
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: Various reasons. Firstly, out of six tests, it was onlyone test which was successful. Five test failures. Then the bureaucracy was notat all in favour of it. They were totally against it inspite of pressure fromsome angles. So these were the various reasons and there were options availableto them from French people, from Germany, but, ultimately, we were able to pushit through as for the Russian…and now it is a repeat order.
TEHELKA: This is called smart ammunition something?
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: Yeah.
TEHELKA: Same thing.
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: Krasnopol is the name of the bomb.
TEHELKA: The bomb will go around 14 lakhs.
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: The total deal was of 5,000. It was 150 crores. Now thefresh order will be again. There are lot of problems, but again because of myfriend…because this is being used by the artillery.
TEHELKA: This will be used for the Bofors.
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: Various guns…so it depends on the charge now…Anotherbomb which is being propagated.
TEHELKA: Same American company?
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: No, no, one is Krasnopol…is Russian. The other is fromSouth Africa. Now the South Africans are pushing it through their agent. So myjob is not only to block that, but to see that the repeat order is given. Now weare waiting for the terms to be cleared as to whether if I do this job how muchwill you give me. If that understanding takes place we will clear this project.If it doesn't take place, someone else will take it. It is as simple asthat…mathematics is very simple.
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{Major Singhreveals his relationship with Sahni, boasts of his relationship with a friendwho is 'the head of the set up' today. He boasts about how he got a defence jobcleared by his friend in three days.}
MAJ. S.J.SINGH:May I tell you something. I am not employee of Mr. Sahni. Number 1. Number 2, wemet to be associate of each other.
TEHELKA: In the ammunition business?
MAJ. S.J. SINGH: Yeah, from project to project. And I was introduced tohim by a common friend. I had gone to my common friend for a diifferent job andin the due course of the conversation, he found out my connections in theministry. He mentioned something and I said, "I can help you out if youwant," without knowing what he was meaning. Immediately he jumped on theconclusion and he rung up Sahni…friend of mine. I would like you to meetanyway. That was an introduction. We came to understand. He met me two or threetimes. I wanted to know the person because it's not good to jump into anythingwithout knowing the person with whom you are going to deal. And ultimately, onthe third day, he again invited me and he said, "Would you like to joinhands? On what terms? Because I would like you to work with us." I said,"No, I am not looking for a job. I am self-employed. I am holding threecompanies. I am managing director of two companies, chairman of three companies,so I don't need to look for a job and my companies are 25 years old. Nottoday."
