London, May 2: The former head of Air India in the UK has claimed that his enemies within the airline were responsible for inspiring a newspaper story that he was being removed from his post because he had allegedly sexually harassed female employees.

“Air India is so political — my enemies were out to get me,” Captain Ashvini Sharma told a friend after winning a libel action against the Evening Standard in London.

Sharma, now a senior director with Air India based in Mumbai, was awarded damages of £85,000 (Rs 68 lakh), plus his legal costs that have been put at £500,000 in one report.

However, the judge, Justice Eady, granted a “stay” on payment of the damages and costs pending a possible application by the newspaper for permission to appeal.

Sharma, married with two children — he and his wife were tall, graceful figures in London’s Indian party circuit — decided to take legal action against the Evening Standard after it published a front-page news report, headlined “Sex Shame of Airline Chief” in August 2006.

As regional director, he was Air India’s top man in the UK and in Europe and responsible for the increase in the frequency of the national carrier’s services from London to destinations in India.

It is known that he felt he had played a role in the launch of direct flights from London to Ahmedabad, which had been demanded by Britain’s large Gujarati community.

Sharma, once an army captain who had served as an aide-de-camp to the President of India, assured the friend: “I have been completely exonerated. They (my enemies in Air India) thought I would never have the courage to take legal action.”

After an eight-day trial in the High Court in London, a jury of six men and six women returned a verdict that the newspaper had failed to prove that the words complained of were substantially true.

After the verdict, Sharma said: “I am delighted to have been totally vindicated. There was not a shred of truth in any of the allegations made against me.”

Sharma added: “This is exactly what I said on the day the article was published. I am extremely grateful to my legal team and to the jury and the justice process of this country.”

He added that, ironically, he had since been promoted to the post of an executive director of Air India at its Mumbai headquarters.

Sharma’s counsel Ian Winter QC told the court that just as Sharma’s four-year term was ending, he learnt from police that there had been a complaint from a female ground services employee. However, the investigation was concluded with no charges brought.

Associated Newspapers argued that the article did not mean that 53-year-old Sharma was guilty of criminal conduct, but that he exploited his position to prey on vulnerable women.

The publishers accepted that Sharma was not called upon to step down and did not resign his post. His term had expired naturally, leading to his promotion.

But the paper called witnesses in a bid to prove that Sharma sexually harassed six women, aged between 18 and their early 30s.

Yesterday’s Evening Standard carried a brief apology on page 16, which ended: “The Evening Standard has 14 days to appeal.”

Given the already high cost of the case, it seems unlikely the paper will appeal.