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World champ Saloo sues Guinness: The Asian Age
Kolkata, Aug 13: Internationally-renowned car rallyist Saloo Choudhury, who created history by circumnavigating the world in a car in record time, has filed a Rs 166-crore damage suit against the Guinness Book of Records for its alleged failure to organise a global competition in his honour.
Kolkata, Aug 13: Internationally-renowned car rallyist Saloo Choudhury, who created history by circumnavigating the world in a car in record time, has filed a Rs 166-crore damage suit against the Guinness Book of Records for its alleged failure to organise a global competition in his honour.
Mr Choudhury claimed that this was the commitment the Guinness authorities had made to him to persuade him to withdraw an earlier case which had resulted in a ban on the printing, sales and distribution of the book of records in India.
The suit filed by Mr Choudhury and his wife Neena, who was his navigator in his record-creating effort, has been admitted for hearing by the Calcutta high court. Exasperated by what he said was persistent prevarication of Guinness World Records, Mr Choudhury has claimed Rs 1,66,63,750 in damages, compensation, refund of entry fee as well as unpaid costs and expenses incurred by the plaintiffs. In 1989 the enterprising husband-wife team created a world record by going round the globe in their Indian-made Contessa in 69 days. “They recognised this feat and issued me a certificate but failed to give me my due by not properly entering it in the book of records,” Mr Choudhury says. The certificate which he was given clearly mentioned that Saloo and Neena were “the first and fastest circumnavigators of the globe,” but in the book of records the crucial “first” was not recorded. When Mr Choudhury pointed this out, he was told that the five-letter word was dropped because of lack of space.
To add to his woes, his title was taken away when his record was broken by a British Army team in 1990. But Saloo and Neena were made of sterner stuff than the British publishers had bargained for. They made another attempt to regain their title in 1991 and successfully completed the circumnavigation of the globe in under 40 days. The petitioners allege in their suit that this feat again did not get proper recognition in the Guinness Book of Records, prompting him to file a Rs 36-crore damage suit in 1993. “Upholding my plea, the Calcutta high court passed an interim injunction against Guinness restraining it from printing, publishing and distributing copies of the record books without including my feat,” he adds.
The latest suit states that the chairman and the managing director of Guinness World Records approached Mr Choudhury and offered to organise a special millennium global navigation contest in 2000 and institute a Choudhury Trophy to be awarded to the winner. The contest was to start from London. The petitioner claims that he agreed to withdraw the case on the basis of this promise. Mr Choudhury claims that the Guinness representatives had met the then chief minister of West Bengal, Mr Jyoti Basu, and other senior government officials in connection with the rally, which was also to pass through Mr Choudhury’s home town, Kolkata. The rally, however, was never held. When Mr Choudhury contacted the Guinness authorities, he was informed that they were not in a position to organise the event.
Later, he was invited to London to resolve the issue in mid-2002 but the stalemate continued. “I have been forced to knock at the door of the court because the Guinness people failed to honour the commitment which they gave me. As a result I have suffered enormous mental anguish, loss of face and reputation,” Mr Choudhury says.
The suit filed by Mr Choudhury and his wife Neena, who was his navigator in his record-creating effort, has been admitted for hearing by the Calcutta high court. Exasperated by what he said was persistent prevarication of Guinness World Records, Mr Choudhury has claimed Rs 1,66,63,750 in damages, compensation, refund of entry fee as well as unpaid costs and expenses incurred by the plaintiffs. In 1989 the enterprising husband-wife team created a world record by going round the globe in their Indian-made Contessa in 69 days. “They recognised this feat and issued me a certificate but failed to give me my due by not properly entering it in the book of records,” Mr Choudhury says. The certificate which he was given clearly mentioned that Saloo and Neena were “the first and fastest circumnavigators of the globe,” but in the book of records the crucial “first” was not recorded. When Mr Choudhury pointed this out, he was told that the five-letter word was dropped because of lack of space.
To add to his woes, his title was taken away when his record was broken by a British Army team in 1990. But Saloo and Neena were made of sterner stuff than the British publishers had bargained for. They made another attempt to regain their title in 1991 and successfully completed the circumnavigation of the globe in under 40 days. The petitioners allege in their suit that this feat again did not get proper recognition in the Guinness Book of Records, prompting him to file a Rs 36-crore damage suit in 1993. “Upholding my plea, the Calcutta high court passed an interim injunction against Guinness restraining it from printing, publishing and distributing copies of the record books without including my feat,” he adds.
The latest suit states that the chairman and the managing director of Guinness World Records approached Mr Choudhury and offered to organise a special millennium global navigation contest in 2000 and institute a Choudhury Trophy to be awarded to the winner. The contest was to start from London. The petitioner claims that he agreed to withdraw the case on the basis of this promise. Mr Choudhury claims that the Guinness representatives had met the then chief minister of West Bengal, Mr Jyoti Basu, and other senior government officials in connection with the rally, which was also to pass through Mr Choudhury’s home town, Kolkata. The rally, however, was never held. When Mr Choudhury contacted the Guinness authorities, he was informed that they were not in a position to organise the event.
Later, he was invited to London to resolve the issue in mid-2002 but the stalemate continued. “I have been forced to knock at the door of the court because the Guinness people failed to honour the commitment which they gave me. As a result I have suffered enormous mental anguish, loss of face and reputation,” Mr Choudhury says.