SC moved against clearance to AirAsia

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on Thursday approached the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the operational clearance granted to AirAsia India.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Anil R Dave agreed to consider the petition on the reopening of the court after the Deepavali  break.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for FIA, said the matter is to be listed before a special bench, which had directed the Delhi High Court in 2014 to expeditiously decide on it. “The Delhi High Court has granted 17 adjournments in the matter. Therefore, some direction be passed for either staying the clearance granted to AirAsia (India) or some direction be passed for expeditious hearing of the matter by the high court,” he said.

Dave suggested that the matter be listed for November 7, as it was coming up for hearing before the high court on November 11.

The FIA has opposed the go-ahead given to the airline to begin its flight operations in
India.

AirAsia Berhad, a public listed Malaysian company which operates AirAsia through its wholly owned investment vehicle Air Asia Investment Ltd, had in February 2014 entered into an agreement with Tata Sons Ltd and Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd to set up AirAsia India under a joint venture company for passenger airline business in India.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has also challenged the clearances granted to the airline, charging that either the responses filed by the authorities before the court are “false and misleading” or the Director General Civil Aviation “has acted illegally and in utter disregard of the law”. Tata Sons’ former chairman Cyrus Mistry, in his letter to the board, had mentioned a Rs 22-crore fraud in the airline.

“Tata Sons board and members and trustees are also aware that in the case of Air Asia, ethical concerns have been raised with respect to certain transactions as well as the overall prevailing culture within the organisation. A recent forensic investigation revealed fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs 22 crore, involving non-existent parties in India and Singapore,” Mistry said. The Tatas denied the allegations.