NEW DELHI: THE tussle between the two promoters of IndiGo, Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, appears to be far from over.
The airline’s CEO, Ronojoy Dutta, in a recent letter told employees that the disagreement between the promoters had been resolved, but it has now emerged that Gangwal wrote to market regulator Sebi on August 30 seeking directions on a slew of corporate governance issues.
Sebi has now sought a response from InterGlobe Aviation, Indigo’s parent firm, on the same. IndiGo said that it will provide its response.
The August 30 letter seeks certain directions from Sebi against the company and the IGE Group on, inter alia, amendment to the articles of association of the company to remove the rights of the IGE Group, past related party transactions, non-independence of the current chairman, refusal to hold the extraordinary general meeting when requisitioned by Gangwal, and certain public statements made by the CEO of the company.
IndiGo, in a statement, said that at the AGM of the company held on August 27, 2019, both the promoter groups (including the AG Group) had voted in favour of all resolutions, including the resolutions to amend the articles of association of the company to expand the size of the board to 10 members and to appoint the chairman as an independent director of the company.
After the AGM, in which Gangwal was absent, it was widely speculated that the promoters had smoked the peace pipe. However, the conflict going on for over a year is far from over as of now.
Gangwal and his associates hold nearly 37 per cent in InterGlobe Aviation, while Bhatia’s InterGlobe Enterprise owns around 38 per cent.
However, due to an initial agreement, Bhatia’s IGE Group has special controlling rights in the working of the airline.