HC order on plea against Air India sale tomorrow

HC order on plea against Air India sale tomorrow

Disinvestment process was challenged

05/01/2022

Soibam Rocky Singh New Delhi

The Delhi High Court will pronounce on Thursday its decision on a plea by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy challenging the Air India disinvestment process in which the Tatas emerged as the highest bidder at ₹18,000 crore.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said, “We will pass orders the day after,” while asking the parties involved in the case to submit their written responses by Wednesday.

Mr. Swamy, who appeared in person, sought a direction to the government to quash the present Air India disinvestment process, terming it “arbitrary, unconstitutional, unfair” and “rigged in favour of the Tatas”. He said the only other bidder in the process was a consortium led by the owner of SpiceJet, which was facing insolvency proceedings in the Madras High Court and thus could not have bid.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta contested the petition, saying disinvestment was a policy decision that could not be contested in courts. He argued that though SpiceJet was facing insolvency proceedings, it was never part of the consortium that bid for Air India. “It was led by its owner Ajay Singh,” he added.

Mr. Swamy in his petition argued that the disinvestment of Air India by way of transfer of management control and sale of 100% of its equity shares held by Government of India to Talace Private Ltd. was against the interests of national integrity and security. “The Tatas are very much a part of Air Asia,” he said.

Mr. Mehta said that Talace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd., which won the Air India bid, had nothing to do with Air Asia.

He said any case Air Asia faced in the past was irrelevant here.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Tatas, said the successful bidder here was a 100% Indian company owned 100% by an Indian.