Days after winning 3-year court battle against McDonald’s JV,91-yr-old dies

The CPRL is McDonald’s India’s joint venture company and runs McDonald’s restaurants at different locations in north and east India.

But 91-year-old Niamat Kaur,who took on the fast food giant single-handedly,wasn’t there to witness this — she passed away on August 18.

“For her,it wasn’t just about property or money,it was a fight for proof and honesty. Today,McDonald’s put out a public notice giving CPRL a vote of no-confidence. She would have been happy to see that there’s still a place for ethics in this world,” Jasjit Singh Anand,Niamat’s son who assisted her in the legal battle,told Newsline.

For three years,Niamat had fought to reclaim the Khan Market property — the nine-year lease deed ran out in February 2010. She stood vindicated when the court not only penalised CPRL for overstaying at the property,but also directed it to pay Rs 11 lakh monthly rent from the date of expiry of the deed to that of handing over of property. It also gave the company eight weeks from the date of judgement — July 1,2013 — to vacate the property.

“I agree with the argument… that Mr Vikram Bakshi,Managing Director of the petitioner company,is aware about the actual rent in Khan Market. Even he lives in Jor Bagh. He is running 117 restaurants in prime areas of India. He has real estate business also. Therefore,it is not believable that the petitioner is not aware about the market rent of the Khan Market area,” Justice Manmohan Singh ruled.

Born in Peshawar,Niamat Kaur shifted to India after the Partition. Mother to four daughters and a son,the family stayed for a while in Shimla and Dehradun before deciding to make Delhi their permanent abode. “The government gave her the Khan Market property in exchange for her property in Pakistan,” son Jasjit said.

Ideally,Niamat would have preferred an out-of-court settlement. “But then they accused her of lying during the cross-examination. That’s when her resolve got stronger,”Jasjit said. What followed thereafter was a spirited fight by the elderly woman who never wavered in her determination.

“She never lost faith in the justice system and she never gave up. She was determined not to let the company get away. In her own silent way,she fought for what she knew was right,” he said.

For the family,the fight is still not over. The company has decided to appeal against the High Court order in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile,McDonald’s India refused to comment further on parting ways with Bakshi.

A PTI report quoted McDonald’s India as saying: “This is an internal matter of the company…and we would not like to comment any further.” PTI also quoted Bakshi as saying “this matter of MD is in the legal domain now. However,I continue being a director and JV partner with control of 50 per cent equity in the JV company.”