Troubles for the Jet-Etihad deal are far from over, with Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy planning to approach the Supreme Court in case the market regulator approves the stake sale.
“If SEBI also gives a clearance to this deal, then I would be very surprised. If it gives a clearance then it (SEBI) would become respondents in this case. It would become culpable under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Subramanian Swamy told Business Line in an interview.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had approved Abu Dhabi-based Etihad’s proposal to acquire a 24 per cent stake in Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways, with certain riders. To sail through, the Rs 2,058-crore deal requires approvals from SEBI, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI).
Finance Minister P. Chidambram is yet to sign the minutes of the FIPB meeting. The day the FIPB gives final clearance, a PIL would be filed in the Supreme Court, he added. Swamy has also alleged that the deal is not in public interest as people with links to terrorist organisations have invested in Jet.
It would be also detrimental to the national carrier Air India’s operations, even as Etihad will get an unfair advantage while servicing India–the UAE sector, he said. He also claimed to be in possession of Tailwinds papers from 1991 (Jet Airways was originally set up as a subsidiary of Tailwinds, an Isle of Man-based company).
“The papers run into about 1,000 pages. Although, we have not digested the material yet but it appears that things are not clear on that front also.”
Swamy also accused Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi of pushing Jet-Etihad deal. He accused the Government of neglecting a report by Parliamentary Committee on Civil Aviation filed in May, which said the deal was not in the interest of public.
“The contents of the report are devastating. …the report has been ignored,” he said.
“Now, there appears to be a question that why the owners of Etihad are pumping in so much money in Jet. One line of reasoning is that the Centre is backing this deal and by helping them increasing the number of airlines seats by a factor,” he alleged.