Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged financial fraud. He is alleged to have defrauded a bank of Rs 538 Cr. Last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case against Goyal. More than a year later, he has been jailed.
The arrest has been welcomed by many. "We hope his assets are pledged and frozen like those of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi," wrote a Twitter user. "After a thorough investigation, I hope to see prompt prosecution. Hope the well-connected network is probed and held accountable too," wrote another.
Goyal's troubles worsened in the late 2010s. "Circumstances around Jet Airways couldn't have been more similar to what Kingfisher was facing in 2012. High crude prices and low fares led to piling debt and losses. And a bad acquisition (Kingfisher acquired Air Deccan, and Jet Airways bought Air Sahara) made a recovery an even more uphill task," Money Control wrote in 2019.
SpiceJet and IndiGo lowered ticket fares in the 2010s. To keep up, Jet Airways, too, had to do the same. "It dropped to second place behind IndiGo in October 2017, with a passenger market share of 17.8%. The downward slide continued and resulted in bankruptcy in 2019," a Wikipedia post says.
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