Air Sahara takes charge of operations, files caveat in Allahabad

New Delhi/Mumbai/Lucknow, June 22 (UNI) Financially-strapped Air Sahara, today took effective control of operations which till midnight, were under the charge of Jet Airways, and filed a caveat at Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, pleading that the company should be heard before any order is passed in its ongoing dispute over the transfer of management control to Jet.

In the national capital, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma held a series of meetings with heads of departments to restore normalcy in the operations which have been in a state of flux.

''We have resumed charge of Air Sahara after the expiry of the deadline for transaction and have started operations on our own,'' said a company spokesperson.

Mr Sharma, who had gone to Delhi's IGI airport in morning to oversee the operations and boost employees' confidence, told reporters, ''I see energy and enthusiasm among the people behind the counters ... Absolutely new freshness in them... If at all I see something, I am seeing something positive." In Lucknow, counsel for Air Sahara Bulbul Gidiyal, filed a caveat urging the court to hear its plea if Jet Airways files a petition seeking to overturn the lower court stay order.

Lucknow district judge Shiv Charan Sharma had yesterday frozen the escrow account of Jet Airways at ICICI Bank till June 23.

The action had come amid reports that Jet wanted to wriggle out of the deal. Sahara alleged that Jet was looking for a price cut from the agreed Rs 2,300 crore to Rs 1,800 crore.

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