A day after Swiss authorities said that documents showing Hasan Ali Khan had an $8.04 billion stash in the Union Bank of Switzerland were forged, doubts are being raised about another claim regarding the man: that he is a stud farm owner from Pune.
Khan, who is in custody facing charges of money laundering and tax evasion, has been repeatedly described thus. But whatever his crimes, one thing that is increasingly certain is that he does not own any stud farms anywhere here. There is also no clear evidence of Khan owning horses and housing them in any of the known stables here. While the stud farms are clearly a myth, the horses he allegedly owns could at best be only part-ownership of some horses and he cannot be referred as a farm owner.
Ever since the I-T department and the ED got into the picture in 2007, his name has been associated with horses, races and farms ? and the Pune racing community is miffed for being tarred. Stud farms here are owned by some of the wealthiest families in India.
The 200-acre Manjari Stud Farm is one of the oldest is the country and is owned by Shapoor Mistry of the Shapoorji Pallonji family. The Poonawalla Stud Farms is owned by Cyrus Poonawalla, promoter of Serum Institute of India. There is the Wadia Stud and Agriculture farms of FD Wadia, and Khushroo Dhunjibhoy?s Nanoli Stud Farm on the banks of the Indrayani river at Kamshet in Pune. This is a select club and they are a breed apart, passionate about horses and taking pride in breeding derby winners.
The Pune racing community has dismissed any connection with Khan. ?We have no knowledge of Hasan Ali Khan owing a stud farm. There is no such record available with the club,? said Vivek Jain, chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC). The RWITC is one of the oldest and the best-known horse racing clubs in the country, with 7,566 members, 600 horse owners, 46 licensed trainers and 80 jockeys, and ought to know if Khan had a stud farm or a stable of horses.
Even the National Horse Breeding Society of India (NHBSI), an organisation of horse breeders that also promotes equestrian activities, clearly states that Hasan Ali Khan neither owns a stud farm in part or in whole. FF Wadia, president, NHBSI, said: ?There is no such record with us. He may have some shares in race horses or may have been attending races. That knowledge is in the public domain. However, owning shares in racehorses is a separate issue and our organisation has no knowledge about this issue.?
Data available with the Stud Book Authority of India (SBAI), a regulatory body that maintains a record of thoroughbreds in the country and is the nodal agency for all matters concerning registration of stud farms and horses, has a record of 14 stud farms in Maharashtra, and Khan is not on the list. The SBAI has also been entrusted with the responsibility of approving names for racing horses. If the stock is not registered with the SBAI, it is not eligible to participate in the races, Wadia said.
But this fact has been ignored and the RWITC has been inundated with calls from the media wanting to know about Hasan Ali Khan?s connections with the club. ?At some point, Khan may have owned some horses. Whether he has transferred them or continues to own them is not very clear. The fact remains that Hasan Ali Khan does not own a stud farm,? said Jain.