The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has closed its investigation into the alleged irregularities surrounding the leasing of aircraft by National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd (NACIL), formed by the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines during the UPA era, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported citing officials on Thursday, the closure report was filed due to a "lack of evidence of wrongdoing".
Eight months after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel, along with Ajit Pawar and other party leaders, joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the CBI has filed a closure report in the Air India-Indian Airlines merger case.
As reported by PTI, other cases related to alleged irregularities in Air India, including the seat-sharing arrangement with private international airlines, are still ongoing.
All About The Air India-Indian Airlines Merger Case
During the merger, Patel, in his capacity as Union Civil Aviation Minister, was among the key suspects in the case and had been questioned by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In May 2019, the ED informed a special court that "Praful Patel is a dear friend" of middleman Deepak Talwar, who allegedly facilitated the dispersal of profit-making Air India routes to private airlines during 2008-09 using his "proximity to the minister and aviation personnel in India".
The CBI's closure report was submitted on March 19 in the court of Special Judge (CBI), Rouse Avenue Court, Prashant Kumar. The court has set April 15 for considering the CBI submission.
The leasing decision was alleged to have been made "in conspiracy with other unknown persons on extraneous considerations", resulting in "pecuniary benefit" to private companies and consequent "loss to the government exchequer", as stated in the FIR.
In June of the previous year, Patel attended an Opposition bloc meeting in Patna alongside NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. However, the subsequent month saw him depart from the party with Ajit Pawar and six other leaders, including Chhagan Bhujbal, to join the NDA. The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP now forms part of the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra, with Ajit Pawar serving as Deputy CM.
The case revolves around the AI-IA merger to form NACIL, which involved leasing a significant number of aircraft and purchasing 111 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. It also encompasses allegations linked to the ceding of profitable routes to foreign airlines, corruption in the opening of training institutes with foreign investment, and Patel's alleged connections with lobbyist Deepak Talwar, who was deported from Dubai in January 2019 and subsequently arrested by the ED.
To investigate these issues, the CBI registered four FIRs in May 2017 following a Supreme Court order in January of that year. The closure report pertains to the first FIR registered, while investigations into the other cases are ongoing. In the initial FIR, registered on May 29, 2017, the CBI named "unknown officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation" in the accused column and mentioned Patel's name in the FIR.