Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing Air India's purchase of 68 Boeing planes, the civil aviation ministry has said in a Right to Information (RTI) Act response.
Air India had placed an order for 68 aircraft, including Boeing 737s, 777s and 787s, all valued at $11 billion in December 2005.
While the then-civil aviation minister Praful Patel has denied any wrongdoing and said the decision to order 68 planes was approved by an empowered group of ministers and later by the Union Cabinet, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its 2011 report faulted the purchase as it had a significant impact on the airline's financial health.
The CBI probe into the purchase of aircraft has come to light after Air India's former executive director Jitender Bhargava wrote to the civil aviation ministry seeking files on the aircraft order.
In a response to Bhargava's RTI request, the civil aviation ministry on October 31 replied that the case was under CBI investigation and the CBI had informed that the disclosure of information may impede the process of investigation.
08/11/14 Business Standard
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