In the good old days, Janata Dal-United Rajya Sabha member George Fernandes, now caught in a crossfire between two warring families, rejected all material gains that were accrued from his status as a prominent labour union leader.
Ironically, one of the properties now under dispute between and former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitley his son Sean Fernandes, is a building worth Rs 1.5 crore in the Hauz Khaus area of New Delhi that Fernandes didn't want in his name.
The labour unions that had gifted the property to Fernandes is now exploring legal options to evict Jaitley from the place.
In 1987, one of the richest trade unions in Mumbai, the Municipal Mazdoor Union, that has the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's staff registered with it, and the Bombay Labour Union, thought it fit to buy Fernandes a house in Hauz Khau as a thanks-giving gesture since it was Fernandes who founded the two unions. He was the general secretary of MMU from 1955-1962 and was MMU's president from 1962-2003.
"As the property is still in the name of the union, we are initiating the legal process to have Jaitely evicted," said Mahabal Shetty, general secretary of the MMU and chairman of the minimum wages advisory committee, Maharashtra government, who has known Fernandes since 1959.
Purchased in 1987 for Rs 6 lakh, the property now carries a price tag of Rs 1.5 crore-Rs 2 crore. The two-storied structure was meant to have served as office and residence for Fernandes.
"We wanted to register the property in his name by passing a resolution as he had contributed so much to the trade union movement. But he resisted. Now Jaitley has taken over the property and she is holding it as her fiefdom. All these years we had paid the property tax. We will get the property back," said Shetty.
What ticked the union off was Jaitley claims that the Hauz Khaus property belonged to her.
"If the property had been transferred to Fernandes, then he could do as he deemed fit. But since the property belongs to the union, occupancy of any other person without significant contribution to the union movement will not be tolerated," said Shetty.