NEW DELHI:  BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has said that Tata Sons or any of its partners should be disqualified from bidding for national carrier Air India.

Swamy has written to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on this. “In public interest and in the interest of justice, Tata Sons and/or with any other foreign or domestic airline in joint venture or alone should be disqualified from the process of bidding or any other procedure initiated by the government to buy national carrier Air India,” Swamy said in the letter.

“My Letter to Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri on disqualification of Tata Sons in the bidding process to buying Air India,” Swamy said in a tweet, attaching a copy of the letter.

“Till final adjudication of my PIL before the Delhi High Court and appellate court, Supreme Court of India and any/all investigations pending with CBI or ED or any other authority probing the subject matter,” Swamy said.

“This argument of illegality and reckless disregard for the propriety (in allowing a prima facie criminally suspect party, Ratan Tata headed Tata Sons to participate in bids for Air India) is in addition to the submissions I had made, to your knowledge in last year’s Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting chaired by you,” said Swamy, lashing out at Tata.

Swamy told Puri in the letter that the overwhelming majority of MPs present in the meeting representing several parties in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had concurred with him that Air India should not be privatised in the national interest despite “your plea to the MPs that the financial losses of Air India left you with no other option”.