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British-Indian millionaire sues House of Lords
An Indian-origin millionaire is suing the British House of Lords for repeatedly blocking his membership "stymied" by "wrong, inaccurate, partial or partisan" inputs.by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, the Sunday Times reported.
An Indian-origin millionaire is suing the British House of Lords for repeatedly blocking his membership "stymied" by "wrong, inaccurate, partial or partisan" inputs.
Raminder Singh Ranger has taken a legal route to know why his application to be a "people's peer" was rejected twice by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, the Sunday Times reported.
The system to appoint non-party political members, dubbed "people's peers", to the House of Lords was introduced in 2000.
The 66-year-old entrepreneur, the founder of export firm Sun Mark Limited with an estimated fortune of 95 million pounds (Rs 950 crore), is involved with a number of charities, including Prince Charles' Prince's Trust.
In papers filed at the High Court, Ranger's lawyer said that he "wishes to contribute more to British public life".
The document said that Ranger's first application to the commission for a peerage in July 2007 reached the second stage.
However, his second application in August 2010 "appears to have been rejected out of hand without so much as a moment's consideration," it adds.
Ranger alleges that his applications "have been stymied (at least in part) by information provided to the (commission) by way of two allegedly unsolicited letters received...from third parties".
"He quite reasonably suspects that the contents of those communications may be wrong, inaccurate, partial or partisan and in any event have prejudiced his applications," the court papers said.
The legal action is aimed at forcing the commission to disclose all correspondence and comments that relate to his two applications, Ranger's lawyer said.
A spokesperson for the Lords' Appointments Commission said, "We have been in correspondence with Ranger for a number of years and have released information to him where possible. We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings."
After arriving in Britain from India, Ranger set up his first business from a storage warehouse in 1987. His west London-based operation now has a turnover of more than 150 million pounds (Rs 1,500 crore).
