The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in India has outrightly rejected a lawsuit by Cyrus Mistry, former Tata Sons chairman sacked in 2016, in which he has accused AirAsia India (Bengaluru International) of funding terrorism, the Economic Times has reported.
"The petitioners miserably failed to at least set up a case basing on this allegation; all are abominably baseless allegations thrown at a reputed person... Scurrilous allegations are not supported by any material paper," the court has said.
Mistry has alleged that the LCC's Director R Venkataramanan, acting in his previous capacity as the Tata Sons trustee on the carrier's board of directors, diverted funds from AirAsia India and transferred them through hawala payments to fund Hamid Reza Malakotipour, a former Mahan Air (W5, Tehran Mehrabad) manager, who has been classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of Justice.
The court found no proof whatsoever to support the allegation.
The NCLT has also established that while a Deloitte audit has revealed a potentially fraudulent transaction of INR220 million rupees (USD3.2 million) made by the former AirAsia India CEO Mrithyunjay (Mittu) Chandilya, the company's board of directors cannot be held responsible for such events.
AirAsia India is a 49/49 joint-venture between AirAsia Group and Tata Sons, with the remaining 2% held by the company's executives. Mistry has been involved in a host of legal proceedings against Tata Sons following his ousting as the chairman in 2016.
For its part, AirAsia India is currently involved in another case in which the company's executives are suspected of corruption concerning the way the LCC has tried to obtain its licence for international flights.
