The numerical symmetry and astrological benevolence on the date 7/7/7 has lured many families into fixing weddings this Saturday. There will be millions perhaps the world over. But this one’s special — the marriage of Jagat Singh and Somaya Sehgal. Jagat is the son of former Union Minister Natwar Singh and Somaya is sister of Andaleeb Sehgal.

Andaleeb’s name figured in the 2005 Paul Volcker report on irregularities in the UN’s Oil-for-Food Programme. It was alleged that he, Natwar Singh and Jagat were associated with a company called Hamdan Exports which acted as a conduit for illegal sales of oil to Swiss firm Masefield.

The wedding will take place Saturday evening at Palace Hotel in Chail, the retreat of Maharaja of Patiala in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district. A sangeet ceremony was organised this night at the same venue. The entire hotel, now a Himachal Tourism property, has been booked for two days.

The wedding ceremony is being organised by the Mohinder Kaur, mother of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh. It is being held as an extremely private, low-profile event. So the media is being kept at bay. But The Indian Express was able to obtain copies of the invitation cards for the two ceremonies. The invite for sangeet and dinner was issued in the name of someone called Vivia Zain. For the wedding ceremony, a plain card has been given out to select people and the invitation has been sent in the name of Mohinder Kaur. Natwar Singh is married to the sister of Cap t Singh.

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