leaving no stone unturned in his battle against his bête noire, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate to immediately register a case on the illegal FIPB clearance to flight operator Air Asia approved by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
In the letters dated March 3 to CBI Chief Alok Verma and ED Chief Karnal Singh, Swamy claimed FIPB approval given to Malaysian firm Air Asia was totally illegal and the FDI should be allowed only for investing in working Indian Airline Company. Violating this basic rule, in 2013, UPA Government allowed Air Asia to directly operate in India with an alliance partnership with a newly floated company belonging to Tata Group, he said.
"You may recall that i had sent you a written complaint for your consideration for investigation against the Air Asia for criminal breach of trust and misappropriation which is a prosecutable under Prevention of Corruption Act (in view of the fact that that a FIPB approval was given by then Finance Minister P Chidambaram). Based on the documents provided to me by the Ministry under the RTI Act, it is quite clear that since according to Ministry of Civil Aviation's answer to my Question on Parliament on July 19, 2015, the FIPB approval in 2013 by Mr.P. Chidambaram ought not have been given because Air Asia was not investing in an existing Indian airline in the country that required infusion of funds. Instead Air Asia received investment from Tata Sons in a illegally constituted Air Asia India ltd, as a joint venture," wrote Swamy to CBI Director.
Swamy's PIl on this regard is now pending in Delhi High Court and final hearing is posted for July 1.In his letter to the ED Chief, Swamy urged for speedy action on the ongoing probe in the alleged Rs.22 crore money laundering case in this deal. The Forensic Audit conducted by Cyrus Mistry, the former Tata Group head found that Rs 22 crore was allegedly given to an entity linked with a Dubai resident Hamid Reza Malakotipour, whom the US Government has classified as "A Specially Designated Global Terrorist" for suspected terrorist activities.
This person was under the radar of American agencies for supplying equipments to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - Quds Force, a Iran based special operation force designated as a supporter of terrorism since 2007.