Ponty Chadha

Gurdeep Singh Chadha aka Ponty Chadha (22 October 1957 – 17 November 2012) established one of the most elaborate business conglomerates in India that grew on to be a 6000-crore empire by 2012 under the flagship banner 'Wave'.^[1] His life is one of the most high-profile ‘rags-to-riches’ stories of converting roadblocks into strengths.^[2]

Early life

During the partition, a person named Kulwant Singh Chadha migrated from Pakistan to set up a mini sugar mill in the Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. It was around that time when Ponty, the first offspring of the family was born.^[3][4] As a young boy, he used to help his father in the business. As a man, he went on to manage the entire Wave Group.^[5][6]

This son of Kulwant Singh and Prakash Kaur was a man of multiple talents. While India struggled with the Emergency in the 1970s, Ponty began his real education after school. Always looking towards the future, he was quick to grasp anything that came his way. A true workaholic, he spent many a night on the streets, burning the midnight oil to find ways and means to expand his business.

In his quest for growth, he was resilient in his expansion plan. Moving on from sugar mills, his passion for cinema became well known as his company forayed into film distribution and production. A stickler for discipline, ethics and punctuality, he always rode high over the world of business.

Selfless in character and humanitarian at heart, Ponty Chadha thrived on his vision to make it big in the world at a mere age of 15 years. Understanding the business of life, he struck a chord with his partners too. He was tough but compassionate, disciplined yet flexible, stubborn still humble [citation ?]

Business

Wave Group is involved in food processing, paper manufacturing, sugar mills, breweries and distilleries, power manufacturing, bottling plants, real estate as well as film distribution.^[7][8] Their flagship companies include Wave Infratech, Wave Cinemas, Wave Distilleries and Breweries, The Delhi Waveriders, Film Distribution, Wave City, Wave City Center, Wave Estate, Wave One, Wave Malls, and Wave Industries.^[9] It is also said that Ponty had developed close ties with former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati and former Chief Minister of Punjab, Amarinder Singh.^[10]

Liquor license monopoly

Just before the 2009 General Elections, due to a change in Uttar Pradesh government policy to control the trafficking of spurious liquor, the system of multiple wholesale dealers was abolished. This led to the monopoly of Chadha group who acquired the license to sell wholesale alcohol single-handedly in the whole state.^[9]

Multiplexes & Malls

The company operates multiplexes and malls under the brand name 'Wave Cinemas' & ‘Wave Malls’ in New Delhi, Noida, and several cities across North India. Incepted in 1999, the company has distributed over 150 Bollywood blockbusters and has cross-border ventures as well.^[11] Besides India, the distribution network covers Nepal, Bhutan, United States, UK and several other Arabian and Asian countries.^[11]

In February 2012, the Directorate of IT and CI officials reportedly raided one of the Wave multiplexes in Centrestage mall, Noida.^[1] It was said that cash worth Rs 110 million, jewellery and fixed deposits were recovered, and 13 bank lockers confiscated.^[6] However, various media reports were contradictory. About two weeks later, they reported that almost nothing was recovered.^[12][13]

However, there were questions raised over the perfectly timed incidents just before the UP elections and how the worth of seized assets was so precisely quoted within a few hours of the raid.^[1]

Real estate

Wave Infratech is the real estate arm of the Chadha Group. Starting off with commercial and residential projects and malls in Noida, the group expanded to Punjab, Gurgaon, and other parts of North India.^[14] It tied up with IBM to build India's first smart city, Wave City, Ghaziabad.^[15][16] Other ventures include Wave One, Wave Cinemas, Wave Malls, Wave Estate, and Wave City Centre.^[11] Chadha group also enjoyed a hold over the mining business in Bundelkhand and Sonbhadra regions of Uttar Pradesh.^[17]

Philanthropy

Ponty established Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan in July 1999, a non-profit special education institution in Noida with the mission to educate and prepare special children to achieve physical, social and financial independence to the best of their abilities.^[18]

The school aims at total self-reliance and its curriculum is specifically tailored for that. Alongside academic learning, it trains children on art and handicraft for all-round development. Dedicated outlets at Wave Malls further promote the merchandise produced in-house by the children.^[19][20][21]

The Group further expanded its outreach by founding the non-profit organisation, Ponty Chadha Foundation (PCF). PCF works for social equilibrium and unrestrained access to food and medical aid across the country.

Lately, PCF and India Food Banking Network (IFBN) have set up the first of its kind food bank in Delhi NCR’s Ghaziabad and Noida.

Death

Ponty Chadha, died on 17 November 2012 and his death remains mired in mystery. The cause of the death is said to be crossfire between him and brother Hardeep, though varied accounts of the incident can be found. One of the arguments is that disputed ownership over a piece of property led to the crossfire; speculations in the media of the brothers being in loggerheads over the family business were also rife, but all these have remained largely unconfirmed in the public domain.^[12][22][23]

Moreover, sources debating the incident, including Taranjit Singh, who is claimed to be a close family relative, confirm that Ponty was handicapped in both hands and could not possibly have fired at his brother.^[1][24] The same was later established when during the investigations it came out that Hardeep had initiated the crossfire.^[25]

In January 2014, murder charges against all the 21 accused were dropped by a trial court in Delhi, including Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, ex-chief of Uttarakhand's minority commission[23] who was arrested on 23 November for shooting at Hardeep Chadha.^[26]

However, charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder were invoked against Namdhari and his Personal Security Officer, Sachin Tyagi while the 19 other accused were charged with attempt to murder.^[27]

The Delhi Police, in July 2014, contested the ruling in the Delhi High Court which accepted the plea and served fresh notices to the 21 accused.^[28]

During its investigations, Delhi Police also discovered that armed PSOs (Personal Security Officers) commissioned with the Punjab Police were accompanying the Chadha brothers beyond their jurisdiction.

An intervention from the Home Ministry has been sought as to why Delhi Police was not intimated on the same.^[29]

References

External links

• The Ponty Chadha Foundation