Khanna was born in Lahore, Punjab Province. During the partition of India in 1947, Khanna and his family fled Lahore, and migrated to Delhi. He was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1950, and eventually reached the rank of Major, before voluntarily retiring from the army in 1965.[10] After his retirement from the army, Khanna began his business career.
Khanna had a long and controversial business career. His name was frequently associated with numerous controversies regarding allegations of being an arms dealer, links to numerous offshore companies and allegedly being involved in bribery scandals, however, the investigations into him found no evidence of wrongdoing and were dropped.[11][12][13] Khanna was allegedly one of the largest and most powerful arms dealers in India since the 1980s, however, the allegations levelled against him were never proven and the cases against him were dropped.[14][15][11] Despite the lack of evidence against Khanna, allegations of being an arms dealer, being linked to foreign defence companies and allegations of being involved in various arms deals in India persisted throughout his business career.[11][16] He was noted by the Government of India and Indian investigative agencies for being a powerful and influential person, both in India and globally.[17][18][19]
Khanna died on 7 November 2019, in New Delhi. His business interests were divided between his children: Vinita, Navin, Arvind and Aditya.[20][21][22][23]
Khanna (near left), during his time in the Indian Army, circa 1950s
Vipin Kumar Khanna was born on 14 December 1930 in Lahore, Punjab Province, British India. Khanna was the son of Shanti Lal Khanna. He was born into a Punjabi Hindu family. Khanna, along with his family, fled Lahore during the partition of India in 1947, and migrated to Delhi, India. He was from a wealthy family in Lahore, but the family lost their wealth when they fled the city during the partition, and had to start anew after migrating to Delhi.[24]
During his time in the UNEF, Khanna was aide-de-camp to Lieutenant generalE. L. M. Burns, who was the first Force Commander of the UNEF.[28][29] While serving with the United Nations, he traveled extensively to foreign countries, which included those that had contributed to the UNEF and other countries as well.[28] Khanna built friendships and made contacts with prominent people during his travels, and these relationships later helped Khanna develop his international connections when he started his business career.[28]
When he returned to India, Khanna became an instructor at the College of Combat, Mhow, which is now known as the Army War College, Mhow, for three years.[28] Khanna eventually rose to the rank of Major, however, he voluntarily retired from the Indian Army in 1965.[10] His retirement came into effect on 17 July 1965.[10] Khanna stated that his reasons for seeking premature retirement were that he saw no future prospects for himself within the army and that he had domestic concerns.[10] After retiring from the army, Khanna began his business career.
In 1990, DSSI established DSSI Exports.[46] DSSI Exports entered the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry and launched Chelsea, which was a tea brand.[47] Chelsea's tea products were sold in the United States and the United Kingdom.[47] From 1991 to 1998, DSSI Exports was the franchisee for Capelli Sport in India.[48][49] In the 1990s, the company also manufactured and exported textiles.[50]
By 2002, DSSI was a diversified business group, and the company's annual sales exceeded $800 million.[1] DSSI also had an office in London, and Khanna's youngest child, Aditya Khanna, led DSSI's international business operations.[51][52] DSSI also established DSSI Foods and further expanded in the FMCG industry.[53] DSSI Foods was initially started as a brand under DSSI Exports before being set up as a company in 2004.[53][54] The company sold tea products, roasted coffee beans, spices and cashews.[54]
Khanna further expanded his business interests to other industries in India. In the 1980s, Khanna entered the arms and aerospace industries.[55][56] His defence and aerospace businesses focused on manufacturing for offset agreements.[57] In 1997, Khanna entered the drinks and alcohol industries through his company Clan Morgan, which was based in Alwar, Rajasthan.[58][59] The company had its distilleries and bottling plants located in Rajasthan.[60] Clan Morgan also had a joint venture with Allied Domecq, and initially owned 50% of the joint venture.[61][62][63] The joint venture was called Allied Domecq Spirit & Wine India.[64] The joint venture introduced and established the whiskey brands, Teacher's and Old Smuggler in the Indian market.[61] The company also bottled Allied Domecq's other international brands.[60] Later, Allied Domecq increased their shareholding in the joint venture to 74%, and in 2005, bought out Clan Morgan's 26% share in Allied Domecq Spirit & Wine India.[62][64]
Foreign business interests and international connections[edit]
Khanna also had foreign business interests. He had interests in the real estate and hotel industries in the UK.[5] In 1995, Khanna and Aditya founded Tamarind, a restaurant in London that became of part of their restaurant group, the Tamarind Collection.[67][68][69][70] Tamarind is an Indian restaurant in Mayfair, and in 2001, became the first Indian restaurant to win a Michelin star in the UK.[68][71] Khanna and Aditya also opened Imli, an Indian restaurant in Soho, London, which was rebranded as Tamarind Kitchen in 2017.[67][72] In 2013, the Tamarind Collection acquired Zaika, an Indian restaurant in Kensington.[73][74] Khanna and Aditya also expanded into investment banking and founded FiNoble Advisors in 2005.[7] FiNoble Advisors was an investment bank that had offices in New York, London and New Delhi.[7] The investment bank focused on international middle-market companies and financial institutions that were trying to enter the Indian market, and provided mergers and acquisitions advice to Indian companies that were looking for acquisitions in the United States and Europe.[7][75]Kaupthing Bank, which was an Icelandic bank, acquired 20% of FiNoble Advisors in 2007.[76][77]
During his business career, Khanna developed international connections, which included connections with foreign dignitaries and diplomats. In 1985, during a visit to India, United States SenatorRichard Lugar met with Khanna, and other prominent Indian figures, to examine U.S foreign policy in India and South Asia.[78] From 1996 to 2005, he served as the Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in New Delhi.[79] During his tenure as Honorary Consul, Khanna supported the idea that India would benefit if Luxembourg established banks in the country.[4] He would also entertain foreign dignitaries in his homes in Delhi.[4] In 2006, during an investigation into Khanna's alleged business links and connections, the Indian Government at the time claimed that his international reach was powerful enough to influence investigative agencies around the world.[19]
Khanna and his family faced allegations of being one of the largest and most powerful arms dealers in India.[14] Khanna was allegedly one of the three largest arms dealers in India, along with Sudhir Choudhrie and Suresh Nanda.[14][80][18] In 2006, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that the Khanna family, the Nanda family and the Choudhrie family had been controlling business in the defence industry of India even prior to the Bofors Scandal in the 1980s, and allegedly, their commissions from defence deals were possibly as much as 15%.[14][15] Until the Bofors Scandal in the 1980s, lobbying for arms deals was legal, however, the political fallout from the scandal caused the Indian Government in 1987 to ban the use of agents in the defence industry.[81][82] Before the ban, the Ministry of Defence kept a list of arms agents that was reviewed annually, and Khanna's name would appear on the list every year.[14][56] In 2012, the Enforcment Directorate (ED) claimed that Khanna and his family's network in the Indian defence industry grew more powerful after the Bofors Scandal.[18]
Khanna was allegedly an influential figure in the Indian defence industry and reportedly, played an instrumental role in the approval of defence deals in India.[80][83] Allegedly, Khanna could guide deals through the defence procurement processes due to his connections within the Indian Bureaucracy and his alleged ability to pay large commissions to various politicians, active and retired military officials, and bureaucrats that are involved in the procurement processes.[80][18][84] Khanna was allegedly linked to various foreign defence companies and was allegedly involved in various arms deals in India.[85][13] However, the allegations levelled against him were never proven, and the investigations and cases against Khanna were dropped.[13]
Allegations of links to foreign defence companies[edit]
In 1986, officials from the Ministry of Finance conducted an investigation into Khanna for allegedly being an arms agent for Saab, a Swedish defence and aerospace company.[86] However, the officials from the ministry later dropped the investigation into him.[86] In 1987, Khanna was once again investigated by the Ministry of Finance for his alleged links to Saab, however, before the investigation could progress further, the officer in charge of the investigation was transferred.[86] In 1999, it was alleged that Khanna was the arms agent for Thompson-CSF, a French defence, aerospace and electronics company, which was rebranded as Thales Group in 2000.[87]
In 2001, Khanna's name appeared in Operation West End, a sting operation that was organised and carried out by Tehelka, an Indian news magazine.[88][85][89] During the sting operation, Tehelka met Lieutenant Colonel V.K Berry, a retired Indian Army officer, and had discussions with him about middlemen in the Indian defence industry.[88][89] Berry claimed that Khanna was allegedly the arms agent for several Israeli defence companies, among which were Elbit Systems, Elisra, Tadiran Communications and Symtech.[85][89] In 2005, Elbit Systems acquired Elisra and Tadiran Communications, and in 2008, Tadiran Communication was merged into Elbit systems, and Elisra became a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit in 2011.[90][91][92] Berry also claimed that he had worked for Khanna for 3 years and had met these companies during that time.[85][89] Berry made a further claim that Khanna facilitated a deal in which Tadiran Communications supplied communications equipment to the Cabinet Secretariat and that Khanna received a 12% commission for facilitating the deal.[89] However, Berry later stated that what he had said regarding the communications equipment deal was untrue, and Khanna, under oath, denied that Berry had ever worked for him.[89]
In 2005, Khanna was accused for allegedly facilitating the arms deal that involved the sale of 1,200 anti-material rifles from Denel, a South African aerospace and defence company, to the Indian Army.[9][84][93] The anti-material rifles deal between Denel and India was completed in 2003.[93] The CBI and the ED claimed that Khanna allegedly used Varas Associates, an offshore company with offices in the Isle of Man and Berne, Switzerland, to receive a commission of 12.75% for securing the order for Denel.[94] The CBI also claimed that Khanna allegedly influenced the Price Negotiation Committee of the Ministry of Defence.[94] The CBI and ED eventually dropped the case against Khanna due to lack of evidence.[13][95]
In 2007, Khanna was accused by the CBI for being involved in the Barak Missile scandal.[96] In 2000, the Indian Navy signed a contract to purchase seven Barak anti-missile defence systems and 200 Barak missiles from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), an Israeli defence and aerospace company.[97] The allegations of corruption in the missile deal caused the Barak Missile scandal.[98] During the investigations into the scandal, the CBI filed a chargesheet on Khanna in 2007 for allegedly receiving vast kickbacks for securing the contract for Israel, and the CBI also confiscated his passport.[96][99] The CBI stated that Khanna was a very influential and highly connected person, who was powerful in both India and internationally.[17] The CBI further claimed that due to these reasons, releasing Khanna's passport would adversely impact the investigation into him.[17] It was also alleged by the CBI that Khanna had routed his payments from the deal through his various businesses and companies based in Mauritius.[100] The case against Khanna was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence.[100]
Between 2006 and 2007, Khanna was connected by the CBI and ED to a network of offshore companies based in London, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.[110][111][112] The CBI and ED claimed that Khanna owned numerous offshore companies, and was allegedly disguising and routing his vast commissions from defence deals through these offshore companies.[110][111] Khanna denied any links to all offshore companies and financial transactions, and Gopal Subramaniam, an Additional Solicitor General of India, stated to the Supreme Court of India that both the CBI and the ED had found no material evidence linking Khanna to offshore companies and the transactions.[111][112] In 2007, the CBI claimed that Khanna owned or had business interests in various companies in the UK and other countries.[17][113] The CBI eventually dropped the case against Khanna due to lack of evidence.[100]
In 2007, Securency, a Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiary, was involved in bribing overseas officials so that Australia could win lucrative polymer banknote printing contracts.[12] It was reported that David Twine, who was at the time Austrade's Asia regional director and one of Australia's senior most foreign trade promotion officials, met with Khanna to discuss work for Securency and to help the company secure government related contracts.[114] The investigation into Securency was, at the time, Australia's largest foreign bribery scandal and investigation.[12]
Vinita Singh (née Khanna; born 1960) is a businesswoman. Vinita took control Khanna's business interests in software through Khanna's company, V4 Security Service.[21][118] She is married to Randhir Singh, a sports administrator, former International Olympic Committee member and former Olympic-level shooter.[119][120]
Navin Khanna (born 1962) is a businessman. Navin took control of Khanna's business interests in commodities trading and marketing, and Khanna's other DSSI group companies.[20][121] He also has business interests in the drinks industry.[122] Navin has been a noted polo player in India.[123][124]
Aditya Khanna (born 1971) is an entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist. Aditya took control of Khanna's London business interests in hospitality, investment banking and DSSI's London operations.[23][51][133] He has further founded and invested in businesses in a diverse range of different industries.[134][133] Aditya has also been involved in various social initiatives.
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