NEW DELHI : Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy moved a fresh plea in the Supreme Court against the Jet-Etihad deal, saying the bilateral airlines treaty with Abu Dhabi for increasing seats to the United Arab Emirates was meant to compensate for the loss of UAE’s investment due to cancelation of 2G licences of Etisalat.
Swamy sought the court’s directions to the government to produce various documents including letters written by Indian ambassador in the UAE to the aviation and commerce ministries favouring the treaty and raising concerns over UAE’s investments.
While the counsel for Jet Airlines and Etihad Airways said there were serious objections to the maintainability of the application, the court said it would hear the case on Apr 15.
Swamy cited a Cabinet note that mentioned the letter of the Indian ambassador in the UAE. It stated “the UAE has recently suffered some setbacks with regard to their investment in India. For instance, they had to write off $1 bln of their investment consequent to cancelation of 2G (telecom) licences”.
Tribunal may reject pleas against deal
The Competition Appellate Tribunal adjourned the hearing on the pleas against the Competition Commission of India’s clearance to the Jet Airways-Etihad Airways deal to Mar 27 while hinting that the pleas may be dismissed on the ground of petitioners not having locus standi in the case.
Former Air India executive Jitendra Bhargava had challenged the Competition Commission’s nod to the acquisition. -Cogencis
