CBI questions Sunil Kapur again in AirAsia bribery case
New Delhi, June 8 : The CBI on Thursday again questioned Sunil Kapur, Chairman of Travel Foods and Services, in connection with an alleged bribery case for getting FDI rules tweaked by AirAsia to get international flying licences.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said that Kapur was again called for questioning and asked about whom all he met in the Civil Aviation Ministry and about a catering contract to him for in-flight catering by AirAsia.
Kapur was questioned for several hours on Tuesday also by CBI officials.
Earlier, the agency had examined Rajendra Dubey, Director of HNR Pte Ltd, Green IT Com Pvt Ltd and RRT Services India Pvt Ltd.
The CBI action had registered a case on May 29 against Malaysia-based AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, AirAsia India Director R. Venkataramanan and AirAsia Group Deputy CEO T. Kanagalingam alias Bo Lingam and others for alleged violation of norms for getting international flying licence.
The CBI's FIR also mentions aviation consultant Deepak Talwar, Dubey and some unknown public servants of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the then Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
According to the CBI FIR, during 2015-16, AAIL remitted about Rs 12.28 crore to HNR Trading Pte Ltd, owned by Dubey, for a sham contract on the basis of a bogus agreement on plain papers.
This was used for paying bribes to unidentified public servants and others for securing permit for the operation of international scheduled air transport services through Deepak Talwar of DTA Consulting and Sunil Kapur, Chairman of Travel/Total Food Services, who acted as lobbying agents.
In its FIR, the agency alleged that efforts were made by Fernandes to get the 5/20 rule of the civil aviation policy changed so that AirAsia could start international operations.
The rule requires that an airline must be operating in India for five years and have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before starting international operations.
Fernandes is also accused of "putting pressure" on former AirAsia India CEO Mittu Chandilya to pursue changes in regulatory policies for international aviation in India which would be beneficial to the company.
AirAsia and Venkataramanan have denied the charges, saying the accusations were made with mala fide intention and will be contested in court.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
