Court questions government on Air India aircraft deal
By IANSWednesday, April 7, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Thursday sought replies from the central government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over allegations of losses caused to Air India due to unnecessary purchase of aircraft by the civil aviation ministry.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta issued notices to the government and the CBI and asked them to file their responses by May 12.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Centre for Public Interest Litigation, a non-government organisation, through their counsel Prashant Bhushan.
Bhushan alleged: The ministry through its deliberate and misdirected decisions and actions drove the Air India and Indian Airlines into heavy losses to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees.
Demanding a CBI investigation, Bhushan said: The government went in for a huge fleet expansion programme in which purchase orders for 111 aircraft was given. This unnecessary expansion was made without a proper study and without any transparency.”
The purchase order for the aircraft cost Rs.67,000 crore. Loans were taken from American and Indian banks to finance the expansion programme and today the airlines are deep in debt and suffering huge losses, he alleged.
Alleging that major profit making routes and timings were given to one or two private airlines, Bhushan said: Foreign airlines were given unrestricted entry into India and major routes were given to them without taking any reciprocal benefits for Air India.”
“Despite a warning that these actions would result in heavy loss of market share to the national carrier, the civil aviation ministry continued with its unprecedented reckless actions, he alleged.
Pushing for an independent aviation sector regulator, Bhushan said: Government should set up an independent regulator for the civil aviation sector as recommended by a parliamentary committee.
