Senior AAI officials suspended, ground handling contract cancelled over fraud

Minister of civil aviation Ajit Singh has ordered immediate suspension and initiation of proceedings against six senior officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over irregularities in the award of ground handling contracts.

Action will also be initiated against the contractor, Bhadra International India Ltd, for cancellation of the contract and recovery of dues.

The minister's action follows a CBI inquiry that found these officers to have favoured a particular company, namely, Bhadra International India Ltd, in the award of contracts for ground handling services at certain airports.

The minister ordered suspension of L L Krishnan, executive director (commercial), R L Saran, DGM (finance), S Basu, additional GM (commercial), Arun Mehan, DGM (operations), P K Chadha, DGM (operations) and Ravi Verma, GM, in connection with the irregularities. 

The minister also ordered filing of first information report (FIR) against Prem Bajaj, MD of the suspect company; R V Narayanan (retired ED - commercial); A K Dubey (retired ED-finance) of AAI and others for manipulation, forgery, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and corruption under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act. 

Action will also be initiated against Bhadra International India Ltd for cancellation of the award/contract and recovery of dues. The minister has directed the AAI to take corrective measures to prevent participation of defaulter contractor or its affiliates in future tender processes by incorporating suitable provisions in the rules and regulations.