Suresh Nanda

Suresh Nanda is an Indian businessman and former officer in the Indian Navy. He is the chairman of the Claridges Group of Hotels and ran Dynatron Services, an engineering firm before entering into the hospitality sector.

Early life
Suresh Nanda was born to Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda and Sumitra Nanda in Karachi, British India. As the son of a high rank officer in the Indian Navy, Suresh Nanda studied in St. Columba's School, Delhi, the same school where notable personalities like Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and officers of the Indian Armed Force like Rana Chhina, Arun Khetarpal and DS Hooda had studied.

Navy career
Nanda graduated from the 16th course of the National Defence Academy. However, he quit the navy while serving as his father's flag lieutenant because “his father’s looming personality ensured he never got credit for anything he did.”

Arms dealer
In the late 1970s, he began to work for his father's firm 'Crown Corporation'. According to Sandeep Unnithan, the "firm associated with major defence deals concluded with the Soviet Union and later Russia...The booming arms trade of the ’80s and ’90s gave the Nandas all the trappings of plutocracy: a sprawling mansion on Grosvenor Square in London’s exclusive Mayfair district, a mansion on Prithviraj Road in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi and Bentleys and BMWs in the garage."

2001 Tehelka tapes
The 2001Tehelka tapes named Suresh Nanda, another arms dealer Subir Chowdhury and Samata Party politician R.K. Jain as recipients of kickbacks in the acquisition of Barak 1 missiles by the Indian government.

In the First Information Report filed 9 October 2005, CBI mentioned large payments from the firm MTU Aero Engines (a supplier to Israel Aircraft Industries) into the bank accounts of Dynatron Services, a company managed by Suresh Nanda and his family members during the relevant period. The scandal had resulted in Nanda serving time in prison and his passport being revoked; however, according to the media his company's business increased following these events.

In March 2008, Nanda was arrested by the CBI along with his son Sanjeev and chartered accountant Bipin Shah while reportedly trying to bribe an Income Tax Department officer Ashutosh Verma, the deputy director of I-T (investigations), with Rs 10 crore to keep under wraps the report of a series of I-T raids on his premises in 2007 which unearthed incriminating evidence of his involvement in the Barak case. A Delhi court convicted all four in April 2021 and sentenced them to one-year of rigorous imprisonment.

Hospitality career
Nanda started his journey in the corporate sector and worked for several major ventures in India, Europe and the Middle East. In 2003, Nanda facilitated the acquisition of Claridges Hotel in New Delhi and the Nabha Palace Hotel in Mussoorie. Subsequently, he built Vivanta Surajkund which is managed by Indian Hotels Limited. He then went international as a hotelier by building Taj Dubai in 2015.

Personal life
In 1999, Nanda's 19-year-old son Sanjeev Nanda ran over and killed six people, including three police constables in a hit and run with his BMW in New Delhi. Tests showed that Sanjeev was drunk at the time of the accident. He was sentenced to five years in jail by a Delhi court; but the Delhi High Court allowed him to serve two years instead. The Delhi Police appeal the reduced sentence to the Supreme Court and sought a harsher 10-year imprisonment. However, the Supreme Court allowed Sanjeev Nanda to be released on account of his time served, required him to do two years of community service and pay a fine of 50 lakh rupees.