In November last year, the trio had been invited by former minister C M Ibrahim, despite opposition from M K Kaw, till recently Secretary, Civil Aviation. Kaw, who has been appointed advisor to the Planning Commission, confirmed that the NRIs were no longer on the board.

Last week, Kaw informed all the three invitees Yossaf Ali, Ajay Bhaku, and Mohammed Ali they were no longer to be associated with the two national carriers. To ensure that the message went home, P C Sen, CMD of the joint board was asked to ensure that no further invitations for board meetings were sent to them.

Ananth Kumar was aghast at their presence at the very first board meeting in the BJP regime. Kumar is understood to have sought an explanation from ministry officials on the ``NRI presence'',only to be told that their induction was at Ibrahim's request.

The minister has now cited provisions of the Company Act and questioned the judiciousness of the NRIs having access to secret documents.