Business rivalry between two leading airhostess training institutes has landed the top officer of one in trouble.

K S Kohli, chairman of Frankfinn Aviation Services Pvt Ltd, is facing prosecution for defaming competitor Aviation and Hospitality Academy (AHA).

In a recent order, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Dharmesh Sharma dismissed the revision petition filed by Kohli and office-bearers of an NGO, SAUVEUR. They were ordered to comply with a summons issued in 2005 following a complaint filed by Akash Gupta, the proprietor of AHA.

The controversy related to a news item published in an English daily in 2003 by the NGO, in which the public was cautioned about “cheating cases” registered against the AHA in Delhi. The article also raised doubts over the AHA’s placement competence and the quality of education received by its students.

An employee of Frankfinn had reportedly taken admission in AHA in Mumbai and had subsequently been asked by Kohli to approach the NGO and register his grievances.

As per Gupta’s complaint, two other such complaints were also filed at the instance of Kohli, who had got the NGO set up to tarnish the image of his academy.

The first article, containing the facts of an FIR against AHA was published in Mumbai in May 2003, following which Gupta had approached the Delhi High Court.

Accepting his plea, the High Court had issued directives restraining SAUVEUR and newspapers from publishing any defamatory advertisements or notices.

Another article, however, was printed in Delhi after a few days and Gupta filed his defamation complaint against Kohli and the NGO.

... contd.