Kolkata-based adventurer Saloo Choudhury, who created a record by circumnavigating the world in a car, has filed a Rs 166-crore (Rs 1.66 billion) suit against the Guinness Book of World Records for its alleged failure to organise a promised world competition in his honour and properly acknowledge his achievements.
The suit, filed by Choudhury and his wife Neena, who was his navigator in his record-creating effort, has been filed in the Calcutta high court.
Choudhury, who set his first world record in 1989, claimed a total of Rs 166,63,07,750 that include damages, compensation, refund of entry fee as well as unpaid cost and expenses incurred by the plaintiffs.
The main reason for filing the suit was the alleged failure of Guinness World Record to hold a round of the World Millennium Challenge in 2000, which had been agreed upon to settle a legal dispute between Choudhury and Guinness in 1998.
According to the petitioner, the dispute with GWR dates back to his first world record in 1989 when he achieved the feat in 69 days.
Though it was recognised by the Guinness Book by a certificate, it was not given proper mention in the book.
When the record was broken by a British army team in 1990, the Choudhurys made a second attempt and regained the world record in 1991 by completing the circumnavigation of the world in 39 days, 20 hours and 15 minutes passing through six continents.
The petitioner alleged that this feat also did not get proper recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records, prompting him to file a Rs 36 crore (Rs 360-million) suit in 1993.
