Subramanian Swamy asks govt to suspend bilateral agreement with Abu Dhabi
The Janata Party president also urged the PM to impress upon his ministersto desist from becoming “advocates for the deal” that has no substantial or long-term economic benefit for India
Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy has asked prime minister Manmohan Singh to suspend the bilateral agreement signed between India and Abu Dhabi.
“From the timing of it (bilateral agreement) and from a close reading of the minute note ![]()
of P Chidambaram (finance minister) after the meeting convened by him as directed by you appears prima facie to be linked to the Jet-Etihad deal,” Dr Swamy said in a letter sent to the PM.
of P Chidambaram (finance minister) after the meeting convened by him as directed by you appears prima facie to be linked to the Jet-Etihad deal,” Dr Swamy said in a letter sent to the PM.Urging Dr Singh to impress upon union ministersto desist from becoming advocates (for Jet-Etihad deal), the Janata Party president said, this deal has no substantial or long-term economic benefit for India.
According to Dr Swamy, there are two reasons to suspend the bilateral agreement...
1. The Constitutional Bench judgment of the Supreme Court constituted on a reference made by the UPA government regarding the mode of allocation of natural resources such as spectrum, held that if it is for commercial exploitation, then auction is a preferred mode of allocation unless compelling reasons are adduced for the contrary view. In this case, India allocated without any substantive reason to prefer a bilateral agreement allotment of air space. But this is untenable since the opinion tendered by the Constitutional Bench to the union government earlier this year, the government is bound to allocate airspace to civil aviation on the basis of auction or to the highest bidder and not otherwise.
2. Second, the Standing Committee of Parliament's recommendation and the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) views cannot be disregard in a cavalier manner which is what the group of four ministers did in their meeting of 22 April 2013 convened on the directions from the PM. Hence their decision is arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal and malafide in over-ruling these powerful recommendations without adequate consultation. It will not stand in a challenge in the court.
The deal between Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the signing of the bilateral between India and Abu Dhabi comprises chain of events taking place one after another. The “smooth and automatic” flow of events makes one wonder whether these incidents were mere coincidence or part of collusion.
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Subramanian Swamy seeks suspension of India-Abu Dhabi air services pact
NEW DELHI: Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy today sought suspension of the new bilateral air services agreement between India and Abu Dhabi, saying prima facie it appeared to be linked with Jet-Etihad deal.
The timing of the agreement and "from a close reading of the minuted note of (Finance Minister) P Chidambaram after the meeting convened by him as directed by you appears prima facie to be linked to the Jet-Etihad deal," he said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, adding, "it is now time to formally suspend the said bilateral agreement."
Referring to the Supreme Court verdict that auction was the preferred mode of allocation of natural resources like spectrum for commercial exploitation, Swamy said, "In this case, India allocated without any substantive reason to prefer a bilateral agreement allotment of airspace.
"But this is untenable since the opinion tendered by the Constitutional Bench (of the apex court) to your government earlier this year, you are bound to allocate airspace to civil aviation on the basis of auction or to the highest bidder and not otherwise."
He also said that the recommendation of Parliament's Standing Committee and the Inter-Ministerial Group "cannot be disregarded in a cavalier manner".
Claiming that the decision of a Group of Ministers on the issue was "arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal and malafide", he said the decision would "not stand in a challenge in the court" and was "fraught with adverse national security implications and is likely to undermine India's domestic airlines industry".
India and Abu Dhabi signed bilateral agreement in April increasing the seats by 36,000 per week to the Gulf nation over a period of three years, taking the total to 50,000.