Swamy tells SC govt has given him documents on Jet-Etihad deal

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today told Supreme Court that the government has furnished him copies of letters concerning Jet-Etihad deal, allegedly written by Indian officials favouring grant of additional air traffic rights to the UAE airline.

"Government has complied with my request to provide me copies of the letters written for the favourable consideration of the request of Abu Dhabi for additional capacity allocation," Swamy told a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu.

Taking note of his submission, the bench, which also comprised justices A K Sikri and Arun Mishra, asked the BJP leader to file a rejoinder within eight weeks on the contents of the documents.

Swamy had sought direction from the apex court to furnish copies of certain letters which, in his opinion, were essential for adjudication of the petition.

Government supplied him with letters, including one written by then Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to Chairman of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on April 5, 2013.

He was also given an April 9, 2013, letter of then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to the UAE Foreign Minister and two letters dated April 15 and 21, 2013, written by M K Lokesh, who was then Indian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The ambassador's April 15 letter states that in view of "setbacks" suffered by the UAE government, a favourable consideration to their request for allocation of additional capacity to their airline (Etihad Airways) would go a long way in boosting investments from UAE to India.

In the second letter, he speaks about the conversation he had with Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority about the Indian aviation sector.

Sharma's communication with Chairman of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi was about Bilateral Investment and Protection Agreement (BIPA) which he had taken up with the then Indian Finance Minister and the Prime Minister.

Khurshid's letter also concerned bilateral investment in which he had mentioned about the aviation sector.

Swamy has earlier sought a CBI probe against government officials who had cleared the deal, while questioning government's decision to execute the agreement in favour of Abu Dhabi under the existing Air Service Agreement between the governments of India and United Arab Emirates.