R. Venkataramanan, non-executive director of Air Asia India Limited, said that all allegations of wrong doing or illegality against him were baseless.
“In my capacity as non-executive director of Air Asia India Limited, I have been wrongly named as an accused by the CBI on operational matters where I had little or no role to play,’’ he said in a statement.
The CBI, it may be recalled, has booked him along with a few others for alleged violation of FDI (foreign direct investment) norms and payment of bribes in an attempt to get an international operations licence.
“It is commonly known that the present accusations against Air Asia India find their root in baseless allegations made by Mr. Cyrus P Mistry and the Shapoorji Pallonji Group against Tata Trusts trustees (me included) and Tata Sons in his ‘revenge’ legal actions,” he said.
“Emails purportedly written by me have been circulated in the media in the context of the issue of 5/20 in the aviation sector. This has been a much debated policy matter and Air Asia India was one of the many airlines that had formally sought a review of this policy. I reiterate that all allegations of wrong doing or illegality against me are baseless. These motivated allegations are part of the smear campaign run to discredit me and the work being done by the Tata Trusts, which contribute ₹ 1,200 crore each year to philanthropic activities,” he said.
