NRI Lord claims 20,000 pounds for renting small flat: report

An NRI millionaire peer faces an investigation following reports that he claimed more than 20,000 pounds in allowances from the House of Lords by stating that a small rented flat occupied by his brother is his main home.

An NRI millionaire peer faces an investigation following reports that he claimed more than 20,000 pounds in allowances from the House of Lords by stating that a small rented flat occupied by his brother is his main home.

HT Image

According to a report in The Sunday Times, 72-year-old Lord Bhatia, a businessman and philanthropist, has lived with his wife in a 1.5-million pound home in southwest London for two decades.

Almost two years ago he decided to "flip" the designation of his primary residence to a two-bedroom flat in Reigate, Surrey, which has been his brother's home for three years. Peers whose main residences are outside the capital are able to collect 174 pound a night as reimbursement for the cost of a hotel or maintaining a second home while attending parliament.

Bhatia claimed he had spent many weekends at the flat and he intended to move there with his wife after selling his family home.

Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, said he would be writing to the police and the Lords asking for an investigation into Bhatia's claims.

The police are already investigating the overnight allowance claims made by Baroness Uddin, who hailed from Bangladesh, and Lord Clarke of Hampstead following inquiries by the newspaper.