Centre gets notice on Swamy's plea to stay AirAsia operations

The BJP leader has sought a direction for restraining Centre from taking any action or decision or granting any further or other approvals

The Centre was on Wednesday directed by the Delhi high court to respond to a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy  to restrain the government from granting any approval for investment by a foreign airline in a new project, such as AirAsia.     

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and judge Manmohan issued a notice to the civil aviation ministry, the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and others and sought their response by October 30.

Swamy, who filed the application in his pending suit against AirAsia, sought stay of the deal and claimed the government was scheduled to consider another similar deal between Singapore Airlines and the Tatas this month.

The BJP leader has sought a direction for restraining the Centre from taking any action or decision contrary to the applicable foreign direct investment policy and DGCA guidelines or granting any approval for foreign investment by a foreign airlines in a new airline project.

He has filed the plea as part of his pending PIL which seeks quashing of permission given to AirAsia for its operations on which notices have been issued to the Centre, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and Commerce and Civil Aviation ministries for October 30.

It had asked the government to "file an affidavit explaining the government's policy on the issue".

Swamy had first moved the apex court which had asked him to withdraw the petition and approach the high court for agitating his case.

In April, the FIPB gave clearance to the USD 30 million deal between Malaysia-based AirAsia and Tata Sons.