Baby Doll main sone di: Robert Vadra, Rajat Gupta and the art of insider trading
Kamlesh Singh New Delhi, April 18, 2014 | UPDATED 00:59 IST
India is great. Mera Bharat so mahaan that at weddings, we dance to patriotic songs. Mere Desh Ki Dharti Sona Ugle Ugle Heere Moti is an integral part of the band during North Indian weddings.
A still featuring veteran actor Manoj Kumar in the song 'Mere desh ki dharti' from Upkar.
Gold, Silver and some precious stones
Rajat Gupta
Investopedia defines Insider Trading as "illegal when the material information is still not public-trading while having special knowledge is unfair to other investors who don't have access to such knowledge. Illegal insider trading therefore includes tipping others when you have any sort of non-public information. Directors are not the only ones who have the potential to be convicted of insider trading. People such as brokers and even family members can be guilty."
Land in my motherland spews gold
In the Goldman Sachs scandal, Rajat Gupta was the director and Rajaratnam the broker. In this great Indian insider trading scandal, there's a Family-member, note the capitalisation, who the Opposition prefers to call a broker, with due derision. A Wall Street Journal report on Friday reignited the debate on how Robert Vadra made a killing in land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan, by either using prior information of policy changes or getting land use changed. There is, however, hardly any ground to put him on the mat. He bought land for a small sum in Gurgaon, the land use conditions of which changed soon after, and he sold them to builders for a pretty premium. One can't blame him for his foresight, just because hindsight makes everyone else wiser. Ashok Khemka, the IAS officer, who found it all fishy scrapped the deal only to realise that the Congress government in Haryana wasn't too keen on his keenness.
Robert Vadra
He proclaimed himself a whistleblower and claimed he was being victimised because Robert Vadra was married into the first family of the ruling party.The much-transferred officer says Congress and Robert's realty firms are wedded to corruption. In neighbouring Rajasthan, he bought large tracts of land cheap by paying above the market rate. Farmers were tempted to sell the land because they got more bucks for the land. Vadra got more bang for his buck. The land was declared to be the site for a mega-solar energy project. No illegality committed. If ethics and morality ruled land broking, the brokers will be broke. The 44-year-old brass ornaments businessman from Moradabad is a billionaire because he has been sharp in spotting soil that can be turned into gold. His family moulded brass, he moulded the top brass. That's what makes a lot of the land bank-touting touts jealous and the Opposition angry. It also makes the family uneasy.
Two songs, two stories & brass turns gold
In the Information Age, information is power. Also a right now, thanks to the Right to Information Act. There is a flood of information that we hardly use. And the entrepreneur turns a trickle of trivia into power tools to prosperity. Stocks traders are infamous, but using information to profit was perfected by the neighbourhood shopkeeper long ago. When rains destroy onion crops in Maharashtra's villages and Lasalgaon reports reduced arrival, the trader in Delhi hoards onions. He sells it when prices double as predicted. Robert Vadra is a trader. He has the right to use information for his gain like all traders do. He is not under any oath of secrecy. If there's a scandal here, it is the people who are under oath. If not Robert Vadra, then somebody else would have made the cut by paying a cut. That politicians buy up land around a site, before announcing that as an investment destination is no revelation.
When Uma Bharti said the NDA government, if it does come into being, will send Robert Vadra to jail . On what grounds? Insider trading is illegal but that applies to stock markets. India's land market is led by lucre louts with enough black money to buy the system. Vadra's Sky Light records unbelievable profits but he keeps records. In black and white and deals in white. He can breathe easy. And continue moving to the beat of Babydoll main sone di. For he of the brass origins is pure gold today. Rajat Gupta and Rajaratnam don't have that luxury. They are in the USA, a great power but not as great as India. Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle, ugle here moti.