Tata Sons’ board of directors came in support of R Venkataramanan in the Air Asia case, reported the Business Standard .
Venkataramanan, the nominee director at Air Asia India, along with other executives is under probe by the CBI for allegedly trying to manipulate government policies through corrupt means to get international licence for AirAsia India.
The board, however, denied any wrongdoing on the part of the director and said that he would continue to represent the holding company, reported the BS on Wednesday.
According to the report, the company, after a board meeting in London, said that the board was satisfied with the airlines cooperation with the agencies probing the case.
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The company said that the board was well aware that prior audits and forensic reports “were initiated by Air Asia India on some of the issues being currently investigated and based on such reports, the board expressed its confidence in its nominee director on the board”, said the report.
Tata Sons holds a 49 per cent stake in Air Asia India.
Earlier, trustees of Tata Trusts, which holds a majority stake in Tata Sons, came out in support of the nominee director, saying that they “continued support to Venkataramanan under whose executive leadership as Managing Trustee, the Tata Trusts have done, and are continuing to do, outstanding work across India."
The investigating agency has alleged that Venkataramanan was lobbying in the government to secure mandatory approvals, some of them through "non-transparent means", including the then Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance, no-objection certificate and the attempt for removal or modification of 5/20 rule.
Apart from Venkataramanan, Tony Fernandes, group CEO of AirAsia and Bo Lingam, former deputy group CEO of AirAsia Bhd are also named in the case.
