Retirement or Jail Time for Air India’s outgoing CMD Thulasidas?
As Mr. Vasudevan Thulasidas, outgoing CMD of Air India, commences retirement, he faces prosecution in a US Federal Court in Colorado for conspiracy to kidnap and murder, and other related offenses. If extradited to stand trial in the United States and found guilty, punishment could be severe. He also remains culpable under the Indian Penal Code, section 120 (criminal conspiracy), section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and section 503 (criminal intimidation).
The indictment against Thulasidas has its origins in safety violations within Air India flight operations, which violations breached the Indian Aviation Act. Thulasidas embarked upon a campaign of intimidation, coercion, and retaliation, in an effort to prevent a report of these violations from being made public and disseminated to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
In this criminal endeavour Thulasidas attempted to silence the writer of the report - a Boeing Company Instructor Pilot working with Air India at the time - through surrogates and colleagues at the Boeing Company. Using a multi-billion dollar aircraft deal between Boeing and Air India as leverage, Thulasidas pressured Boeing managers into coercing their Instructor Pilot to withhold the damning report. The Boeing Company, acting in its own commercial interests, imposed unwarranted disciplinary action against their pilot, and threatened termination of employment if he disseminated information on the Aviation Act violations.
As the campaign of intimidation initiated by Thulasidas escalated, high level US government officials became embroiled, and the retaliation culminated in two attempts to kidnap and murder the Boeing Instructor Pilot. The two foiled attempts were executed by officials of the Boeing Company, and by officials of the Federal Aviation Authority respectively. An intense group effort in the top structures of the Bush Administration ensued to squash all efforts in the courts to bring the offenders to justice.
Nevertheless, the issue involving Thulasidas has once again surfaced, this time in the US District Court, Colorado, in a criminal case filed by the United States against Thulasidas and against pernicious and lawbreaking government officials and officials from the Boeing Company. The case names several senior Boeing Company officials and Air India’s Thulasidas as co-defendants and addresses a plot and conspiracy to kidnap and murder. Two related cases deals with the sedition of those officials who have protected the malefactors from prosecution.
Earlier statements, and questions and answers regarding the Air India affair, dating back to 2006, are attached for your edification and aide memoir. The statements and information clarify the inciting role Thulasidas played in the criminal endeavour. Documents which describe the crimes can be found on the web via ‘Public Access to Court Electronic Records’ (PACER), in the US District Court, Colorado, case: United States of America vs. 443 Known Insurgents (case no.1:08-cr-00086). The two related case numbers are 1:08-cr-00085 and 1:08-cr-00087. The progress of the cases can be tracked via their associated appeals in the US 10th Circuit Appeals Court under case numbers 08-1061, 08-1063, and 08-1064.
The criminal complaints which give rise to two of the cases may also be viewed by following the links below. Case no. 1:08-cr-00086 names Thulasidas and his Boeing Company counterparts as defendants.
1. Insurrection and Seditious Conspiracy against the laws of the United States (District Court case no.1:08-cr-00086, Appeals Court case no. 08-1063).
2. Charges of 'Conspiracy to Kidnap' and 'Conspiracy to Murder' (District Court case no. 1: 08-cr-00085; Appeals Court case no. 08-1064).
Further documents and information regarding the background and broader significance of these cases and other closely related cases, may be obtained by contacting the writer directly, or from the website www.anthonykeyter.com, (link to ‘Court Cases’).
Al Bawaba
