The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case on Tuesday against AirAsia (India), AirAsia Berhad, and its top executives, including group chief executive officer (CEO) Tony Fernandes, for allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy with the UPA government to change rules to get overseas flying rights.
The conspiracy, it’s alleged, was hatched just a month before the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. The case is based, among other findings, on a clutch of internal emails between senior executives of AirAsia and the Tata Group.
One such email with the CBI is that of top Tata Trusts executive Venkataramanan Ramachandran, who is named in the FIR, allegedly giving personal assurances from then civil aviation minister Ajit Singh. It also conveys an assurance from the head of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to go ahead with investment plans even when they were challenged in court as early as October 2013.
“Met Mr Ajit Singh a short while ago. He said approvals should come soon and that our planning should be on the basis of the 5/20 rule getting scrapped,” reads the email by Venkat to top AirAsia executive Tharumalingam Kanagalingam, who is also named in the CBI FIR.
“AirAsia India Limited (AAIL) refutes any wrongdoing and is cooperating with all regulators and agencies to present the correct facts. In November 2016, AAIL had initiated criminal charges against its ex-CEO and had also commenced civil proceedings in Bengaluru for such irregularities. We hope to bring early resolution to all such issues,” said Shuva Mandal, director, AirAsia India Ltd.
30/05/18 Manu Pubby, Raghav Ohri/Economic Times
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The conspiracy, it’s alleged, was hatched just a month before the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. The case is based, among other findings, on a clutch of internal emails between senior executives of AirAsia and the Tata Group.
One such email with the CBI is that of top Tata Trusts executive Venkataramanan Ramachandran, who is named in the FIR, allegedly giving personal assurances from then civil aviation minister Ajit Singh. It also conveys an assurance from the head of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to go ahead with investment plans even when they were challenged in court as early as October 2013.
“Met Mr Ajit Singh a short while ago. He said approvals should come soon and that our planning should be on the basis of the 5/20 rule getting scrapped,” reads the email by Venkat to top AirAsia executive Tharumalingam Kanagalingam, who is also named in the CBI FIR.
“AirAsia India Limited (AAIL) refutes any wrongdoing and is cooperating with all regulators and agencies to present the correct facts. In November 2016, AAIL had initiated criminal charges against its ex-CEO and had also commenced civil proceedings in Bengaluru for such irregularities. We hope to bring early resolution to all such issues,” said Shuva Mandal, director, AirAsia India Ltd.
30/05/18 Manu Pubby, Raghav Ohri/Economic Times
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