The court was informed that after regulatory approvals from the Competition Commission of India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation last year, the shareholding of Air Asia was revised and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India. The Delhi High Court Monday disposed of a plea by former Rajya Sabha member Dr Subramanian Swamy’s plea against the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to Air Asia, observing that the issue had become “purely academic”. A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad in its March 13 decision said, “In view of the fact that there is no foreign investment as of today, the prayers made in the writ petition have become purely academic. The petitioner (Swamy), who appears in person, has stated that he is no longer interested in pursuing the writ petition”. The court was informed that after regulatory approvals from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation last year, the shareholding of Air Asia (India) Pvt. Ltd was revised and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India Ltd. “It is also stated that on 12.08.2020, Talace Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated as a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, which holds 100% shares of Air India Ltd,” the order records. The CBI and ED who were impleaded as parties to the plea had also filed their status report, which the court perused. Swamy had challenged a 2013 decision of the Finance Ministry approving Air Asia Investment Ltd to incorporate a new joint venture company (Air Asia India Pvt Ltd) with foreign equity of 49 per cent with a balance 51 per cent equity share held by Tata Sons Ltd (30%) and Telestra Trade Pvt Ltd (21%). Swamy sought a CBI investigation into the role and functioning of the Centre and Foreign Investment Promotion Board which led to this decision and report exclusively to the HC. Swamy had contended that this decision is contrary to the Foreign Direct Investment Policy (FDI) Policy of the Central Government and is also contrary to the guidelines laid down by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation which do not permit foreign investment by a foreign airline. The plea was accompanied by a stay application restraining the Centre, FIPB, Civil Aviation Ministry and Commerce & Industry Ministry from taking any action or granting further approvals, etc., contrary to the FDI policy. This application was rejected by the Delhi High Court in February 2014, which was challenged in the SC and was subsequently dismissed by the apex court.