Nov 16, 1998

The initiation into the property trade also taught Sharma the virtues of connections. Of course, the underworld mattered, a reason why he quickly patched up with Dawood after fleeing Mumbai in 1982 following a dispute with the D-Company over a Juhu property. Equally important, however, were political connections. Quite early on Sharma discovered that politics provided both a cover and protection. He flirted with Charan Singh's Lok Dal, then joined the Rashtriya Sanjay Vichar Manch of Maneka Gandhi and Akbar "Dumpy" Ahmed. But these were initiation rites. Sharma came into his own in the Congress, which he joined with fanfare after expelling Maneka from the Manch.

Being the ruling party, the Congress gave Sharma unlimited access to the corridors of power. It even provided him security at the taxpayers' expense until July 1992. Blessed first with an official position in the Kisan Cell and subsequently an AICC membership, Sharma played havoc with the system. He was brazen enough to rent the basement of the farmhouse of M.K. Subba, now a Congress MP from Assam, and then capture the property altogether. He didn't even bother with the paltry Rs 2,000 rent and beat up one of Subba's employees in July for having the gumption to demand it. Likewise, a basement flat in Mayfair Garden belonging to the son of a retired IB joint director was taken over. The police looked the other way.

Another celebrated takeover was the Regal Building properties of Sanjay Sabharwal. Here Sharma coupled brute force and deceit with blackmail. Starting off as Sabharwal's tenant, he ended up capturing more than half the building. In 1994, when Sabharwal went to Sharma's house to protest, he was "arrested". Police say Sabharwal has alleged that during captivity Sharma showed him nude pictures of his wife and boasted of an affair with her. A distraught Sabharwal was also repeatedly beaten and ended up losing his other properties to Sharma as well. Once worth some Rs 15 crore, he is now a pauper.

An intriguing facet of Sharma's operations was the tacit connivance of the authorities. The victims could complain incessantly to the police, but Sharma strutted around in the firm belief that nothing would come of them. Former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha Sudarshan Agarwal made the mistake of giving his Panchsheel Park house to Sharma on rent. It took a lot of perseverance and sustained litigation to get him out. Agarwal was well connected and could fight Sharma. Others weren't so lucky. Sharma was powerful. So powerful that when contraband silver worth Rs 1.25 crore was recovered from his farmhouse on December 21, 1992, following a tip-off by an estranged political associate, there was no follow-up action.

The subversion seems hard to digest. The political system is undoubtedly distorted but there are limits to transgressions of the law. For Sharma the law didn't exist. So brazen was his approach that he secured a passport within a day for Dawood's mother Ameena on July 19, 1993, just four months after the Mumbai blasts. She left the country the next day. It was a silent, smooth operation, so smooth that till last week there was not even an investigation nor a case registered under the Passports Act. No wonder it is said Dawood owes Sharma a special obligation.

Obliging people had a purpose. Even if they weren't politicians. Socialite Bina Ramani remembers being introduced to him in 1995 by Neelam Mukherjee, the wife of actor Joy Mukherjee. At that time Ramani was looking for a place to host her wedding. Sharma courteously offered her the use of his farmhouse. It wasn't entirely altruistic. "Sharma wanted us to purchase a house in Panchsheel Park whose title deed wasn't quite kosher," says Ramani. Sharma wasn't bothered by the failure of a crooked deal. He gained respectability from the association. He was becoming kosher.

The reputation of a lavish lifestyle helped. The 19 cars, 30 airconditioners, good food, unending supply of liquor and gracious hospitality helped enhance Sharma's reputation as a person of consequence. That wasn't all. Sharma, says a Delhi celebrity, "understood a person's weakness and vulnerability". In particular, the importance of women in cementing connections. Police sources claim he had an insatiable sexual appetite and even ate quail because he felt it would help matters. But he was not squeamish about allowing his friends a share of the spoils. For people of different tastes and class, Sharma had his supply of women.

Was it sleaze that made Sharma special? Or did the D-Company connection make him a class apart from Delhi's other shadowy operators? It is difficult to say which prevailed. But Sharma had a special attribute. When he was once served an attachment order on his Mayfair Garden house for the non-payment of taxes, the first person to contact I-T Additional Commissioner Vishwa Bandhu Gupta was V. Balasubramaniam (Balu), president (Delhi operations) of the all-powerful Reliance Industries Ltd . Balu's clout in Delhi is legendary. He is arguably the country's foremost lobbyist who, it is whispered, can even make or break governments. Why should such a man be involved in joint ventures -- the Reliance Investments and Developers is a known example -- with Sharma? Why did India's leading corporate house rent a Sharma property in B-121 Sarvodaya Enclave for an employee, despite the fact that the upper floor was occupied by some dubious women from Bijnor? Sharma's alleged Reliance link is preoccupying the investigators. It is suggested that he and Balu together played a role in resolving a Rs 32 crore dispute involving a Mumbai stockbroker Rajan Mehta and Reliance in which the D-Company had an interest.

Officially, Reliance has distanced itself from Balu, claiming his activities to be private practice. That may well be the case, but there are larger issues involved in Sharma's meteoric rise and unhindered operations. Sharma was among the disreputable figures who service the politico-bureaucratic underbelly of Delhi. He may have overstepped his mark by having Dawood as a client. But he wasn't the only one. Only a full and honest inquiry can tell us who and what made a sleazeball like Sharma tick.

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