Annoyed over non-payment of their salaries, the employees’ association of Jet Airways on Friday asked the Mumbai Police to register a case against its founder and former Chairman Naresh Goyal, CEO Vinay Dube and SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar.
The All India Jet Airways Officers & Staff Association in its letter said: "We call upon you to register offence under cheating, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and other offences against the Chairman, the CEO, the representative of the State Bank of India (Bankers) as per specific provisions of Section 405 and 409 and other related Sections including 420 of IPC."
The Association urged the Mumbai Police to investigate the matter on an urgent basis and said that the Jet Airways staff will be forced to express its solidarity through constitutional means including "calling for a strike under the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act".
Meanwhile, the initial phase of Jet Airways stake sale programme came to a close on Friday as scrutiny of at least 5 EoIs (expression of interest) started, sources said on Friday.
According to industry insiders, SBI Capital Markets (SBI Cap) and the airline's lenders have received a lukewarm response with at least 5 prospective buyers sending in their EoIs.
"They are currently in the midst of evaluating the EoIs sent by various entities including airlines. Any official announcement on the selected entities will be made on Saturday," an industry insider told IANS in New Delhi.
It was not known whether Jet' former chairman Naresh Goyal submitted his initial bid. However, speculation is rife that state-run National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL), UAE-based Etihad Airways, some private venture funds have sent in their EoIs and were in touch with SBI Caps, the firm mandated to carry out the sale on behalf of the banks' consotorium.
On Wednesday, lenders of the debt-ridden airline tweaked the terms for stake sale and also extended the submission deadline for EoI bids from prospective buyers.
Currently, the airline owes Rs 8,000 crore to lenders, led by the SBI. On March 25, Goyal had stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the SBI-led consortium.