Finance minister Jaswant Singh today reviewed the inspection of Jet Airways' books by the department of company affairs (DCA) under Section 209 A of the Companies Act, 1956.
The move is part of the finance ministry's initiative to ensure that corporates comply with provisions of the Act. The minister held discussions with the brass of the DCA, which appraised the minister on the progress of inspection of various companies. However, it could not be ascertained if any violation of the Companies Act has been found during the inspection of Jet Airways' books.
According to reports, the DCA has also detected that Reliance Petroleum violated provisions of Section 211 of the Companies Act by not circulating information about the dealings in shares of Reliance Industries and another group company in its balance sheet for 1994-95. Reliance Petroleum said the omission was on account of a printing error.
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Last year, the DCA had ordered a comprehensive scrutiny of the books of accounts, including shareholding pattern, of Jet Airways. The airline maintained that Tailwinds, a company registered in the Isle of Mann, owned 99.98 per cent of the paid-up capital amounting to Rs 77.87 crore, with the remaining stake held by Naresh Goyal. Jet Airways also maintained that Tailwinds was owned by Goyal.
The resultant inspection was ordered by DCA to probe, among others, violation of Sections 269, 198 and 309 of the Companies Act. The probe is based on a preliminary report filed by the Registrar of Companies in Mumbai.
Preliminary investigation by the registrar had revealed that Jet Airways had failed to inform the DCA about the re-appointment of its executive director S K Datta in violation of Section 269 (2) of the Companies Act. The registrar had also found that the company had provided "doubtful debts" of about Rs 2 crore to companies in which Naresh Goyal is either a member or director.
Recently, Jet Airways' shareholding pattern came under scrutiny after the Union home ministry wrote to the civil aviation ministry that the airline allegedly had underworld contacts, a charge refuted by the airline.