HC seeks RBI's reply on Pak airline's plea against its advisory

Delhi High Court has asked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reply to a plea by Pakistan Airlines Ltd challenging its advisory to the carrier to sell one of its properties here within six months from November 2014.

The communication from RBI also said the airline was required to take prior permission to purchase property and not doing so contravened the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations 2000.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher issued notice to RBI and sought its reply, saying the matter required consideration and listed it for further hearing on November 17.

The court, however, refused to stay the communication of November 24 last year, saying the airline waited for a period of more than six months to challenge it.

Another reason cited by the court for not granting stay was that the communication did not contemplate any coercive action.

The court gave the airline liberty to approach it if and whenever any coercive action is taken against it.

Through its letter, RBI had advised the Pakistani national carrier to sell within six months one of its four office spaces in Connaught Place area of the capital, which were purchased in 2005.

It had also said that the money received upon sale should not be repatriated without its prior permission.

RBI had issued the letter, as according to it, the airline had violated provisions of Foreign Exchange Managment Act (FEMA) by not taking its permission prior to purchasing the immovable property.

The airline, on the other hand, contended that a declaration about the purchase of the subject property was made in the prescribed manner in the IPI form and claimed this was sufficient.

An IPI form is a declaration of any immovable property acquired in India by a person residing abroad who has set up a branch, office or other place of business, barring a liaison office, here.