AirAsia: Neither we nor CEO has received any notice from India’s CBI

Airasia Group Bhd and its CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes have not received any notices from the India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) contrary to reports which stated that Fernandes has been summoned for questioning on June 6.

“We wish to state categorically that neither AirAsia Group nor Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, in his personal capacity, has received any such notice as of today,” the group said in a statement.

If and when any such notice is received through formal and official channels, then in accordance with the sovereign laws of Malaysia we will abide by the due process of the letter of the law,” it added.

AirAsia said both the group and Tony will fully cooperate with the respective authorities in India in the investigations.

The group was referring to news reports quoting sources in which it was reported that AirAsia’s Indian unit allegedly broke rules while obtaining rights for international flights out of the country.

CBI reportedly named Fernandes, the airline and others in a complaint, alleging they lobbied government officials “to secure mandatory approvals, some of them through non-transparent means”.

Reuters quoted a CBI source on Friday as saying that Tony had been called for questioning in the case on June 6, adding that others would also be called as part of the investigation.

In 2014 the low-cost carrier launched its domestic flight operations in India with local joint venture partner Tata Sons.

At market close, Airasia’s share price rose 4.19% to close at RM3.23 with some 10.5million shares done.