Mumbai: AirAsia Berhad on Wednesday said that the airline and its group chief executive Tony Fernandes has not received summons to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over allegations of lobbying for overseas flight permits and violating rules that prevent foreign airlines from controlling Indian operators.
“We wish to state categorically that neither AirAsia Group nor Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, in his personal capacity, has received any such notice as of today,” AirAsia Group said in a statement to Malaysian stock exchange.
“If and when any such notice is received through formal and official channels, then in accordance with the sovereign laws of Malaysia we will abide by the due process of the letter of the law,” it added.
CBI on 29 May raided the offices of AirAsia India and filed a complaint against Fernandes.
CBI’s first information report (FIR) said the violations occurred from 2013 to 2016, before the government eased restrictions on Indian airlines starting overseas flights in June 2016. The rule that bars giving management control to foreigners remains.
According to the CBI, Fernandes was summoned by the agency on 6 June.
A CBI spokesperson said that Fernandes didn’t turn up for questioning on Wednesday despite the agency’s summons. The agency will summon Fernandes for the second time soon.
“We had issued summons to Tony Fernandes to appear for questioning today, however he did not. We will issue a second round of summons and the date will be decided in due course,” said the CBI spokesperson.
“If the second summon is not honoured we will explore other options,” the spokesperson said. However, he refused to elaborate on those options.