Indian online travel agency Cleartrip has accused Travelocity of a “misconceived and baseless” complaint after its CEO was arrested by Indian authorities over a data breach.
Stuart Crighton was subject to a procedural arrest by Indian police and was released on bail immediately at a facility in Gurgaon.
The case centres on a complaint (known as a First Information Report, FIR) filed by Travelocity India against Cleartrip and others, with Crighton accused of conniving with senior officials of a company known as Desiya Online Distribution to steal data.
Crighton was arrested alongside Amit Taneja, former-CEO of Desiya, a company bought by TravelGuru in December 2007 and subsequently part of a larger acquisition of TravelGuru by Travelocity in August 2009.
Travelocity alleges Taneja and two others passed information to Cleartrip.
A report in India has Cleartrip accusing Travelocity of “an attempt by a large global company to abuse India’s judicial system to hinder a local Indian competitor”.
“We, at Cleartrip, believe that the FIR filed by Travelocity is misconceived and baseless. Cleartrip has always committed itself to the highest standards of transparency and integrity with respect to our customers and in everything we do.We, at Cleartrip, believe that the FIR filed by Travelocity is misconceived and baseless.”
Travelocity has yet to comment.
A number of those familiar with the case suggest the latest action – purely a procedural one in Indian law but a dramatic one for the CEO of a top three OTA in the country – is by far from the end of the matter and the outcome is extremely uncertain.
If the Indian authorities are like any other law enforcement body, they require clear evidence upon which to base an arrest. Police don’t arbitrarily arrest people without there being a basis for the arrest and a warrant issued by a Court. Obviously the Courts feel there was enough grounds for an arrest. It will be interesting to see what happens next… could be the basis of a new TV Show, Law & Order – OTA.
Law & Order – OTA, I LOVE IT.
Let’s start casting calls and writing seasons 1 and 2.
Pamela
Stephen–the procedures in India are not “like any other law enforcement,” but are unique to India. Let me see if I can help you understand it better.
For the record, I am a founder of Cleartrip.
This is the process in India:
1. File an FIR – this is the first step and nothing can happen until this is done. It is the equivalent of making a complaint and requires no evidence of anything. Anyone can walk into any police station in India and file an FIR at the drop of a hat.
2. Police begin investigations – this can take any amount of time. For instance, this FIR was filed in December 2009, over eight months prior to yesterday’s procedural arrest.
3. Police have the right to make an arrest at any time – this is at the discretion of the police and does not require judicial intervention or permission or an arrest from any court of law. The matter of bail is solely at the discretion of the court.
4. Police must file a chargesheet within 90 days of making an arrest – and this is the biggest difference from what people in Western democracies are accustomed to. The police can actually arrest someone without actually having filed any charges at all.
I do hope that helps you to more clearly understand this.
@hrush – many thanks for commenting and clarifying for some of our readers how the FIR system works.
As we said in the story, it was a procedural arrest and bail.
this is petty, spiteful, vindictive move by Travelocity/ZUJI/Travelguru managment probably trying to distract attention from there terrible performance in India dispite spending millions. If the trevelocity GM didn’t have a mother who is an MP this wouldn’t be happening. Pathetic. At worst it should be a civil issue – not criminal. And Stephen Joyce Indian system does not work like US law enforcement.
this is petty, spiteful, vindictive move by Travelocity/ZUJI/Travelguru managment probably trying to distract attention from there terrible performance in India dispite spending millions. If the trevelocity GM didn’t have a mother who is an MP this wouldn’t be happening. Pathetic. At worst it should be a civil issue – not criminal. And Stephen Joyce Indian system does not work like US law enforcement.
sorry for speculation in above messages from Anon/Vijay. Am sure travelocity india GM’s mother being MP is nothing to do with this issue. just feel angry that 2 ota’s have to fight what seems a small issue in public eye – not good for online travel business in india in general
The enforcement process I described is Canadian. It is, however, very similar to the process used in the U.S., U.K., and most other European countries. I would be interested to know how India’s system works since arbitrary arrests based on hearsay or speculation call into question the credibility of the entire legal system. Care to enlighten us?
I’ve tried to enlighten, please see the comment I posted above in reply to your first comment.
Thanks @Hrush, that does help. The fact that police can take up to 90 days to file a charge sheet is very different.
Anon and Vijay: You two really think alike.
The FIR was filed in Dec 2009. Based on that some laptops/mobiles were seized and sent for forensic evaluation. The arrests have happened after the police got the forensic reports. If the police had to be vindictive they could have arrested these people in dec 2009 itself? why wait 9 months?
Any any crimnal including Cleartrip/taneja will cry themselves hoarse saying they are innocent?
What cleartrip/Taneja need to answer is:
1) why did taneja/cleartip solicit and hire Imran, Sanjay Singh and SHriram – violating the non-solicit and non-compete arrangements.
2) When police went to Cleartrip office they found Rs. 10 laks worth of Travelguru cheques in that office? please explain this?
3) Why was Cleartrip paying money to Taneja in MAuritus? this is hawala?
4) Why did Taneja steal business from Travelguru … such as Wharton business (as mentioned in FIR)
5) how much did Cleartrip pay for the hotelbusiness model.xls (as mentioned in FIR)
Instead of just stating they are innoccent, they need to answer the questions raised inthe FIR and the evidence report. then and only then can we start beleiving them.
@charkop – I’m sure you’ve got this information from a credible source. care to share the same?
this is just creating chaos in indian travel sector.
Travelocity is a multi billion dollar global enterprise owned by the Sabre group. The Sabre group owns Abacus and many travel brands around the world. The Sabre Group does not compete successfully by trying to put rival CEOs in jail nor does it allow its executives to pursue personal vendettas in the public domain. It is a global public corporation that is managed by corporate governance protocol. To believe otherwise is just silly.
Actually, large corporations like Sabre never launch legal action without thorough legal review. Like any other public corporation they do not embark on legal action unless they have a solid evidence of unlawful activity against them. To go into a legal battle wrongfully would expose them to extreme legal repercussions and the risk of financial damage. They would not do it knowingly. This is a function of basic corporate governance. That have chosen to take this step demonstrates that they have done their homework.
Is their malice involved? Maybe. They must be really very very angry. Executives of companies are allowed to treat people maliciously if they believe those people have harmed the company. That is a fact of business life.
I hear that the order came from someone spiteful at Zuji head office in Singapore who used to work at Travelocity in US. I am not related to either company but am a huge fan of Cleartrip and have never been a fan of Zuji.
I will never use Zuji again – not that I did in the first place
Mark Wesson
While the legal procedures are indeed different, you’ve got to admit there’s a certain frisson of shock, horror when you read of a CEO of a company being arrested – All the memories of Ken Lay & Jeffrey Skilling ( ENRON ), Bernie Ebbers ( WorldCom ) Conrad Black ( ToryGraph / Hollinger ) surface. Are we going to get perp walk photos/vids of Stuart Crighton and Amit Taneja ? Not nice I know.
Of course justice moves really slowly in India, decades at a minimum – me, I’d bet on a compromise/settlement out of court – perhaps even a merger – loonggggg before this goes to trial.
I Think Travelocity is facing some tough competition in the travel business from other competitors. Being a No.1 and Giant Travel company, Travelocity should have used their resources and compete with Cleartrip and other travel portals in business (and not to behave like a child who is complaining about another child, Come On!! It’s a business grow up…!! ).Instead of damaging company image and thus hoping to defeat the competitors, Travelocity should concentrate in business to compete with Cleartrip and other competitors.