SC asks Subramanian Swamy to move Delhi HC on his plea against AirAsia

The Supreme Court on Friday asked former MP Subramanian Swamy to move the Delhi High Court with his plea challenging clearance given to proposed low-cost airline AirAsia India.

A bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan said it was not making any observation on merits of the matter and asked Swamy to move the high court which can hear him in detail. "We want to have advantage of high court judgement," the bench said while giving him liberty to file the public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court.

Swamy told the court he was not challenging the policy but questioning the action which has been taken by the government under the policy. Malaysia's largest budget carrier AirAsia has set up a joint venture with the Tata Group and Telestra Tradeplace to launch the regional airline in India.

AirAsia India will be based in Chennai in which the Malaysian carrier will hold a 49 per cent stake. Initially, AirAsia plans to invest USD 30 million in the company. In his PIL, Swamy has challenged the clearance granted to the proposed airline on the ground that according to the policy, foreign investment is only permitted for an existing airline but AirAsia India was not an existing carrier.