A sessions court in Delhi has issued notices to Delhi Airport Operator DIAL ( owned by GMR Group) and Bird ExecuJet Airport Services Private Limited, in a case of an alleged violation of IPR laws, theft, and criminal breach of trust.
Both the companies, DIAL and Bird Group, have been accused by Mark Martin, chief executive officer of Dubai-based aviation firm Martin Consulting, of stealing its designs and proprietary data.
A sessions court in Delhi has issued notices to Delhi Airport Operator DIAL ( owned by GMR Group) and Bird ExecuJet Airport Services Private Limited, in a case of an alleged violation of IPR laws, theft, and criminal breach of trust.
The case pertains to India's first private jets terminal – the General Aviation terminal facility built at Rs 150 crore, which was inaugurated at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport in 2020.
Both the companies, DIAL and Bird Group, have been accused by Mark Martin, chief executive officer of Dubai-based aviation firm Martin Consulting, of stealing its designs and proprietary data with the help of his company’s employee Navjot Singh. Martin Consultancy was executing the project until February 2019, when the contract was terminated. In his petition, Martin has alleged that the contract had to be terminated due to non-payment of dues by the DIAL and Bird Group.
The Dwarka Sessions Court has issued notices to both DIAL and Bird ExecuJet, seeking their response on the allegations.
Bharat S Kumar, who is representing Martin Consultancy, told Outlook Business that they have evidence of Navjot Singh’s email correspondence with the executives of Bird and DIAL, where internal data of the company was shared without permission.”
In the petition filed by Martin Consultancy, the company has claimed that it has a written apology from Navjot Singh, in which he has accepted having stolen proprietary information from his employer without his information.
Martin Consulting was engaged by Bird ExecuJet in 2017 to develop the design for the general aviation project.
Kumar also said that his client has sought filing of an FIR against the accused parties to further investigate and retrieve all electronic evidence.
At the time of filling the story, neither GMR nor Bird Group had responded to our queries.
The private jets terminal has 57 parking bays and has the capacity to handle up to 150 private jet flights per day. The new terminal has passenger lounges, retail and food and beverage sections and round-the-clock personal concierge services.