Businesswoman Ms. Niharika Handa has rejected what she describes as false and malicious allegations made against her by Mr. Amar Deep Singh Hari, chairman of IPMC.
In a statement through her lawyers, Sory & Partners, Ms. Handa said Mr. Hari has falsely portrayed her as a fugitive who fled India to escape arrest warrants, falsified her age to obtain Ghanaian citizenship, and defrauded business executives in Ghana.
Her lawyers described these claims as “baseless fabrications,” stressing that Ms. Handa has lived outside India since 2017, a fact that they say was confirmed by a ruling of the High Court of India.
They also denied allegations that she is under any investigations relating to her as a Ghanaian or a businesswoman whether in Ghana or elsewhere, and thus has had no need to flee her country of origin, India.
They made the claim that Niharika Handa has lived outside India since 2017 and therefore had not to flee in 2022.
Miss Handa is alleged to have acquired a Ghanaian passport with a date of birth different from the one in her Indian passport.
But her lawyers claim the difference between her Indian and Ghanaian passport birth years was a clerical error, since the date, 14th, and the month, September, remain unchanged.
The statement further accused Mr. Hari of engaging in reprisals after being taken to court for alleged theft of company assets at Gold Crest Refinery Limited, in the Republic v Amar Deep Singh Hari & Another, and Niharika Handa v Amar Deep Singh Hari and others.

They also noted that workers of Gold Crest have lodged complaints against Mr. Hari at the Labour Commission, alleging intimidation, as well as at law enforcement agencies, accusing him of deception.
“There is no better example of unscrupulous business practices than that engaged in by Mr. Singh Hari,” the lawyers wrote, pointing to what they described as a pattern of fraud and theft in his dealings with IPMC and Gold Crest.
According to the lawyers, Businesswoman Ms. Niharika Handa has rejected what she describes as false and malicious allegations made against her by Mr. Amar Deep Singh Hari, self-acclaimed chairman of IPMC, a claim they said is false, as he is only a minority shareholder in the company.

The letter stated, “Singh Hari is not the chairman of Gold Crest and to the best of her knowledge, is also not Chairman of IPMC, where he is minority shareholder, and falsely holds himself out as chairman.”
Ms. Handa has indicated she will continue to defend her reputation in court and pursue legal remedies against Mr. Hari’s allegations.