After being taken off the shelves by its publisher, The Descent of Air India is set to make a comeback next week.

The book, which chronicles a string of decisions that led to the felling of the state carrier, would be made available in the form of an electronic book that can be downloaded for a fee, said Jitender Bhargava, its author and a former Air India executive director.

“The e-book would be out as early as next week. I am in talks with some e-book publishers and am currently working out the pricing strategy and other modalities,” Bhargava told Business Line , without providing details.

He said he is well within his rights to get the work published online. “It’s clearly mentioned in the book that the copyright rests with me. Hence, the erstwhile publisher cannot interfere…” The e-book would be available for downloads on all major technology platforms such as Apple iOS, Google’s Android and Windows Mobile, said Bharagava.

A spokesperson for Bloomsbury India, which had published the work in October last year, refused to comment on the development.

In the book, Bhargava alleges that policies by several top officials, including former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and the then Chairman and Managing Director V. Thulasidas were responsible for the present state of Air India.

Patel filed a case in the Mumbai metropolitan magistrate’s court seeking its cancellation. Two weeks ago, Bloomsbury India decided to cancel the book. Last week, the publisher also released a public notice in some national dailies apologising for the embarrassment the book had caused Patel.

The notice further said unsold copies of the book would be destroyed. Bhargava said he stands by the contents of the book. He’s also working on revising the hard copy so that he can pitch it to other publishers.

“The revised work will include chapters on the Jet-Etihad deal, Air India joining the Star Alliance and my petition against the Jet-Etihad deal,” he said.

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