Overview
- The Cabinet Office published a statement on Thursday saying King Charles III has directed that Nirpal Singh Riat’s 2010 OBE be cancelled and his name erased from the Order’s register.
- Local court reporting and media say Riat was fined about £300,000 for illegally converting houses into flats and renting outbuildings where tenants lived in damp, squalid conditions.
- The Cabinet Office said the annulment followed a referral from a Hounslow councillor to the Honours Forfeiture Committee, the advisory body that recommends stripping honours for conduct that brings the system into disrepute.
- Riat, now in his 70s, denies some allegations as "fabricated" and was labelled a rogue landlord after the court coverage that surfaced roughly three years ago.
- The cancellation is unusual and comes after a 2024 forfeiture of Lord Rami Ranger that won the right to a judicial review, a development that could prompt legal scrutiny of the process used in Riat’s case.