Grounded airline Go First has seen bids from two entities, one is the combined bid by Nishant Pitti's Busy Bee & SpiceJet's Ajay Singh, and the other is a standalone bid by Sky One. While the committee of creditors' decision on the bids is still awaited, CNBC-TV18 took a deep dive into the background of these two companies and found a common Middle East factor and many other details.
While Nishant Pitti of EaseMyTrip claims he is the majority shareholder in Busy Bee, we found that the company was originally founded by Pran Sathiadasan, the Director at Dubai-based airline Flydubai, in April 2017.
CNBC-TV18 accessed a document that shows Pran Sathiadasan's name being proposed as an adviser for Go First if the Ajay Singh-Nishant Pitti consortium wins the bid. But Pran Sathiadasan has denied any role in either Busy Bee or Go First's resolution bid.
In response to a CNBC-TV18 query, Pran Sathiadasan said, "I'm not a part of this. I had registered this company many years ago and there was no AOP or any commercial activity therein. Upon the request of a chartered account friend who had a client who wanted an entity registered in the aviation space, I gave the company to him. So, whomever (sic) has taken over are the present owners and directors of the company even though the MCA website still shows my name and my wife's as the founders."
Nishant Pitti says he owns a majority stake in Busy Bee. A search on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website doesn't show Pitti's name on the directorship of Busy Bee, neither does he have Busy Bee on the list of his associated companies.
So, whether Pitti just a shareholder without a board position in Busy Bee remains unclear. However, Pran Sathiadasan continues to appear as Busy Bee's Director on the Corporate Affairs Ministry's website (refer to the first image). Company law experts say there is a possibility that the MCA website will not update the names if the company has not notified it about the appointment of new directors or new major shareholders.
Nishant Pitti has not responded to CNBC-TV18's queries on Pran Sathiadasan's role in the Pitti-Singh consortium that is bidding for Go First.
Experts say the firm is trying to get access to Go First's international bilateral flying rights. When Go First was operational, it had bilateral flying rights to 18 countries, including over 20,000 seats per week to the Middle Eastern region. Gulf carriers like Emirates have been urging India to increase the weekly seats but the government has refused to grant them additional access. A senior aviation expert said if a Gulf carrier gets access to Go First, it can internally (via a code-share agreement) use Go First's flying rights to take passengers from India.
An EaseMyTrip executive, who didn't want to be named, had earlier told CNBC-TV18 that the Busy Bee consortium hopes to sell Go First's bilateral rights, especially to Middle Eastern carriers, after they get the ownership. Whether this will be allowed is not clear.
Coming to Sky One. The company is based out of Sharjah and promoted by Jaideep Mirchandani. This is the same company that was in the race to buy the government's stake in Pawan Hans.
Going by the information available in the public domain, Sky One is mostly into charter helicopter and cargo plane services. Several companies operating under Jaideep Mirchandani have a presence across West Asian countries
According to reports, back in 2002, Jaideep Mirchandani and two of his executives were arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly ferrying illegal cargo planes from Delhi to Dubai. A Times of India report dated April 20, 2002, stated that Jaideep Mirchandani's then company, Sam Avia, had fraudulently procured permission to operate these aircraft.
The Times of India report quotes a source saying: "We have documentary evidence showing that the three accused had connived with a Kazakhstan cargo airline, GST Aero, which flew six flights between Delhi and Dubai in March. There is every possibility of more illegal trips having been made earlier." The report further quotes an official who said: "The accused had forged a letter on the Kazakhistan embassy's letterhead and then sent it to the MEA. The ministry cleared the request and sent it to the aviation ministry"
Sky One, in its response to CNBC-TV18, called the arrest a documentation error, adding that Mirchandani was later exonerated from the charges.
"In 2002, an error on the part of documentation had deemed a flight unscheduled, and an inquiry was made into the matter. Mr Mirchandani cooperated with the police answering all questions and once the investigation was completed, was exonerated. After his acquittal, he had also sought the removal of news articles relating to their past arrest and trial on the ground that they too have a 'right to be Forgotten'," Sky One said in its response.
A decade later in 2014, the US banned Mirchandani, his family members Indira and Nitin Mirchandani and some of their companies over charges that their cargo planes were allegedly involved in weapon and currency trafficking.
"...These companies owned, operated, or controlled by Jaideep Mirchandani and his family members, Indira Mirchandani and Nitin Mirchandani, have been involved in activities in support of the Syrian regime. In addition, Mirchandani and certain other entities were attempting to export a US aircraft that would be used to further support the Syrian regime," according to the US Federal Register's 2014 document.
The document provided details on why the persons in question and companies were placed on the banned list. "These flights transported large amounts of Russian currency to the Syrian government. Additionally, the Mirchandanis and their corporate officers/employees have engaged in transactions with individuals involved in weapons trafficking as well as individuals and companies named on the US Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) list, including Mahan Air of Iran and its affiliates. Persons designated as SDNs were so designated for supporting the terrorist activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force," the 2014 document said.
However, on February 23, 2016, the US administration removed the Mirchandanis and most of their companies from the banned list following appeals. "This rule implements a decision of the ERC to remove the following nine persons from the Entity List based on a removal request submitted by Indira, Jaideep and Nitin Mirchandani and their six companies," the document stated.
But Sky One rejects any accusation of illegal supply of arms.
"Jaideep Mirchandani was on the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List for a brief period more than seven years ago. On February 23, 2016, by a unanimous finding by all of the US Government agencies charged with administering the Entity List, Mr. Mirchandani and Sky One were removed from the Entity List. As you may know, the standard for removal from the Entity List is a much higher standard than for inclusion onto the Entity List," Sky One said.
The company further said that "Sky One and Mr Mirchandani have been and remain steadfast that they did not engage in any activities that were the basis for their inclusion on the Entity List, including the allegations contained in the 2014 Federal Register notice adding them to the Entity List."
"Sky One and Mr. Mirchandani have been and remain steadfast that they did not engage in any activities that were contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests and never posed a risk of doing so; neither Sky One nor any of its affiliates, owners, including Mr. Mirchandani, directors or senior managers have ever been charged with any export control or economic sanctions violation, administrative or criminal, and they have not paid any penalty or entered into any settlement; and Sky One and Mr Mirchandani have never engaged in a transaction or activity in violation of export controls, economic sanctions or anti-corruption laws administered by the US, EU, UN or other applicable government authority. The fact that Mr Mirchandani was removed from this list is proof that zero illegal or illicit activity took place," Sky One stated in its response.
(Edited by : Amrita Das, Vijay Anand)
First Published: Mar 6, 2024 9:58 AM IST
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