A self-made wealthy British Indian west London property developer has had his OBE forfeited by King Charles for allegedly renting out illegally converted homes in terrible condition. Nirpal Singh Riat’s OBE was revoked this month for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”, the cabinet office said.He received it in 2011 from Queen Elizabeth II for services to charity and the Punjabi community. But in 2023 Hounslow Council branded him a rogue landlord for his management of 22 properties where it claimed tenants lived in “appalling conditions” and accused him of illegally converting a property into flats and illegally renting out an outbuilding. The council took him to court and judges slapped him with a £300,000 (about Rs 3.8 crore) fine.Riat told TOI on Thursday that he disputes some of these allegations, which he says are “fabricated”. Regardless, a Hounslow councillor lobbied the honours forfeiture committee, which sits within the cabinet office, to get his honours withdrawn, he told TOI. Once notified, his lawyer wrote to the committee disputing the claims but never got a response. “I didn’t push it hard enough as I didn’t think it would go this far,” he told TOI.His forfeiture follows that of two other British Indians, Anil Bhanot, MD of Hindu Council UK, and Tory peer Rami Ranger, who had their honours withdrawn in 2024. Like Ranger, Riat feels the system of forfeiture is unfair and opaque.Earlier this month Ranger won the right to judicial review of the decision to strip him of his CBE. “He is the first person and I will be the next I guess,” Riat said. “I am planning a judicial review.”Born in Nairobi, Riat went to school in Jalandhar, aged 11 to 14, then moved to UK.
