By IANS
Mumbai : The Bombay High Court Thursday issued a notice to the Mumbai police on a public suit alleging Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal had links with mobster Dawood Ibrahim, even as the private carrier said it was ready to place all facts before the court.
The court asked Mumbai Police Commissioner D.N. Yadav to file the department's reply within two weeks.
"The police have been asked to reply within two weeks the action taken in this regard," public prosecutor Usha Kejriwal told reporters.
The airline said in a statement it had "so far not received any intimation from any quarter of any proceedings or orders that may have been passed".
"However, we will place all facts before the court when asked," it said.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by M. Furqan, an editor of a local Urdu daily, based on an alleged Intelligence Bureau report saying Goyal had close links with Dawood and had even received funds from him.
Similar allegations were also made in the past but government inquiries found no evidence against the airline.
Jet has always denied any links with underworld groups.
The petition said the airline might be used for anti-national and anti-social activities if the illegal funding to it continued.
"The petitioner fears that the activities can go even to the extreme of explosion of flights in the model of the attack on the World Trade Center in the US," it said.
Jet, having nearly one-third of India's booming domestic aviation market, also flies to London, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Colombo and Kathmandu. It is expected to fly to the US later this year.