Punjabi singer stars in suit
Thu, June 26 2008

By Lucy-Claire Saunders

Five years after successfully suing the famous Punjabi singer, Hans Raj Hans, B.C. resident Jasbir Kaur still has not collected what’s owed to her. She claims Hans has hidden behind Punjab’s politicians and police and has threatened her with prison if she pursues the case in India.

"It makes me feel like I’m not even human," says the retired dental hygienist, who served with the Canadian Armed Forces. "I never thought this could happen."

According to B.C. court records obtained by the South Asian Post, Hans owes Kaur over $130,000 from two loans she gave to him in April and September of 1998.

But because B.C. courts have no jurisdiction outside Canada, Kaur, 58, of Surrey, is left on her own to collect the money.

And it’s a tough fight. Hans is well connected. As the official Punjab State Singer, he has friends in high places, making Kaur’s task a difficult one.

Undaunted by the effort and the time it takes to wade through India’s sticky political system, Kaur is determined to get what she claims is rightfully hers.

Hans did not return repeated e-mails requesting an interview for this article.

With over 15 albums to his name, Hans has millions of fans across the world, who watch his eye-popping videos online, devote whole chat rooms to him and turn his taffeta-like tunes into ring tones.

Over the last decade his name has become synonymous with Punjabi Folk and Sufi music. Even the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, an acclaimed Pakistani musician, was so impressed by Hans’s vocal range that he invited the singing stud to perform a song he composed for the movie Kacche Dhage.

Kaur first met Hans when her son, Ravinder Gill, asked to meet his "idol" in the late 90s during a trip to Punjab.

At the time, Hans’ fame was quickly spreading throughout India.

Coming from a good family, Kaur said she was able to arrange a meeting with the famous singer.

The two quickly became friends and it wasn’t long before Hans asked to borrow over $100,000.

"He said he was having financial trouble and was being audited," says Kaur. "I thought perhaps he was embarrassed to ask someone else so I lent him the money."

According to Kaur, the two struck a deal – Hans would borrow $108,000 with 20 per cent interest that would be paid back over two years.

But when the two years passed, the excuses started.

"I would have someone call him to ask about the money," Kaur said. "At first he would say, ‘I don’t know her.’ Then he would say, ‘Oh yeah, I know them but I never borrowed any money.’ The he would say, ‘Oh yes, I did borrow some money but we’ll get together someday and we’ll come to terms.’"

And so another two years passed.

Fed up, she took her case to B.C. Provincial Court in Vancouver. Hans failed to appear and the judge ruled unequivocally in favour of Kaur, ordering that the Punjabi singer pay the full amount he borrowed, plus interest.

With B.C.’s justice system behind her, Kaur took her case to the Punjab government in an effort to have the court ruling enforced. But it wouldn’t be as simple as that.

"It seemed like it took forever," said Kaur. "It took at least two years for my case to go from one level of government to the next."

When Kaur’s case finally reached the final deciding authority - the senior officer of the Home Department - the true political situation became apparent.

"Mr. Dubey, a senior officer, said, ‘Hans Raj Hans is our man and we are not going to do anything about it. You go ahead and do whatever you want,’" Kaur alleges.

Rebuked, that’s just what she did.

Again, it took years before anything substantial materialized. Passed off from person to person, Kaur finally caught the attention of Deputy Inspector General Norinder Pal Singh, who promised he would help.

Singh started an inquiry, according to Kaur, calling Hans and asking him about the money. But Hans reportedly kept rolling out the excuses, buying time and looking for a way out of a legal mess that had been dogging him for several years.

Stymied by Indian police, Kaur approached Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) party and the son of chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal.

If anyone could help her, Kaur reckoned it would be him. He effectively runs the state as his father is close to 70 years old.

But she was wrong. Six weeks after Kaur contacted Badal, the investigation came to a halt. Not one person would take Kaur’s calls.

"Somebody put a stop to it," she said. "Now, I can’t reach anyone. Nobody will even take my calls."

Kaur believes Hans has won over - or bought off - politicians, the police and the media.

About a year ago, Kaur claims she received a threat from Hans Raj Hans passed on through someone who "knows him extremely well."

"‘Don’t bother filing a case in India,’ the person told me. ‘We’ll get you entangled in something you’ll regret.’ That pretty much means they’ll bring false charges against me and throw me in jail if I continue to press charges in India.

"And you know the prisons in India."

Looking back, Kaur says she never would have guessed that her generosity would end up haunting her.

"He’s known all over the world. I thought, ‘Where can he run to?’ I never saw any danger in that investment," she said.
"But I will keep on fighting. I feel sorry for him, yes I do."
 

Fellowship Folly?

 In the late-1990s, Hans Raj Hans claimed he had received a fellowship for Folk Music and Sufiana Gaiki from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Soon after, he began receiving awards from the State of Punjab, including the fourth highest civilian award of India, the Padam Shree Award for Arts.

The awards, the accolades – it was a watershed moment for the folk singer. He is now worth millions.

But according to the University of Washington’s Academic Human Resources, there is no mention of Hans Raj Hans in their records.