With the Government in a fast forward mode to divest the stakes of debt-ridden Air India, the fate of multiple CBI cases against the Rs unnamed' officials of the national carrier now seems to be hanging in balance.
Sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said the role of former CMD Vasudevan Thulasidas has under scanner in cases of several alleged irregularities. Thulasidas, a 1972 IAS Tripura cadre officer, took over as CMD in December 2003.
“As the head of the institution, Thulasidas executed the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines; hired an international consultant that projected a multi-crore profit post merger and also decided on the purchase of Dreamliners in 2007,” said a CBI source who is part of the team of investigators.
“If need be the consultant may be summoned to verify its report. So far we have got some information that high level people from India were in touch with them. How the consultant reached this conclusion or whether they were forced to prepare a favorable report for some vested interests is being probed. Thulasidas was the chief negotiator between the airliner, the government, and the consultant,” said the official.
The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was convinced that the merger can do the bits for the airliner and as a shareholder the Central Government could gain as much as Rs 300 crore on cost savings alone.
The CBI has registered three FIRs against unknown officials of the civil aviation ministry and private persons for alleged irregularities in Manmohan Singh government's purchase of 111 aircraft for Air India and Indian Airlines at a cost of Rs 70,000 crore. “This amount is the exact loss which the Government is now talking about and labeling it as debt-ridden. It is not the employees of Air India but the people in power responsible then and again now talking about its sale,” said an AI official.
CBI official said the original proposal was to buy a total of 28 planes for Air India and Indian Airlines but the Government finally decided to buy 68 for Air India from Boeing, and another 43 for Indian Airlines from Airbus.
CBI is to investigate leasing of a large number of aircraft by AI without due consideration, and surrendering of the profit-making routes and schedules to benefit private players. After the merger, the decision to place huge orders with Boeing and Airbus cost the exchequer several thousands of crores.
The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) had termed the purchase of aircrafts on a debt a “recipe for disaster” and the auditor watchdog
It said that in its three FIRs and one Preliminary Enquiry (PE), it has booked unknown officials of the civil aviation ministry, Air India and unknown private persons for criminal conspiracy, cheating and under the prevention of corruption Act.
The process of PE into the decision to merge the two airlines that started in March 2006 has been focusing on those who were running the civil aviation ministry at the time.
