ED summons Praful Patel in Air India seat-sharing case

Date:

spot_imgspot_img

NEW DELHI:The Enforcement Directorate has summoned former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in a case of irregular seat-sharing on Air India’s profitable routes, allegedly involving corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar, ED officials said here on Saturday.

The ED has asked Patel to appear before it on June 6. 

Patel was the Civil Aviation Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government when the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines took place. Patel has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

Talwar, currently in judicial custody, was extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January for his suspected role in the irregular seat-sharing on Air India’s profitable routes with some international airlines. 

The ED is probing the Air India-Indian Airlines merger, purchase of 111 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus at Rs 70,000 crore, ceding of profitable routes and schedules to private airlines and opening of training institutes with foreign investment.

The agency is also probing how the money received in Talwar’s accounts were transferred to government employees, including those in the Civil Aviation Ministry, who abused their position in 2004 and decided to purchase 111 aircraft for the national airlines. 

spot_imgspot_img

Related articles

God sent PM Modi as ‘avatar purush’ to lead India: Mukesh Ambani

New Delhi, Sep 17: God has sent Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an ‘avatar purush’ to lead India,...

China urges US to remove Typhon missile from Japan

BEIJING, Sep 16: China on Tuesday asked the US to withdraw its mid-range Typhon missile system deployed in...

Gen Z protest victims given state funeral in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Sep 16: Funerals of some of the victims of Gen Z protests were performed on Tuesday at...

20 injured in Russian strike; Zelenskyy seeks EU air shield

KYIV, Sep 16: Russian forces launched a rocket attack on Zaporizhzhia overnight, wounding 20 people, including four children,...