‘No wrongdoing’: CBI closes case against NCP’s Praful Patel, who now enters NDA

New Delhi:

Nationalist Congress leader Praful Patel has been released from custody in an alleged corruption case as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concluded there was no “evidence of any wrongdoing”. The case was filed in 2017 to investigate allegations of irregularities in the leasing of aircraft by Air India.

The CBI has submitted a closure report to the special court in Delhi. After reviewing the findings of the investigating agency, the court will decide whether to accept the report or continue the investigation.

There are allegations that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government leased a large number of Air India aircraft, which has severely hit the airline’s financial health. The complaint alleges that Air India suffered huge losses after this move, while private individuals received monetary gains.

The lease agreement was finalized between the Ministry of Civil Aviation headed by then Minister Praful Patel and the national carrier Air India, the agency formed after the merger of Air India and Air India.

The FIR alleged that due to large-scale acquisitions and a significant increase in the number of flights, the airline started operating at very low load. It also said some of Air India’s international flights were nearly empty when the leasing decision was taken.

The CBI initially claimed the decision was “disingenuous” and that the aircraft was being leased even as procurement plans were underway.

In July last year, one of the senior NCP leaders such as Praful Patel broke away from the party supremo Sharad Pawar and joined forces with the Bharatiya Janata Party Join forces. The faction is led by Ajit Pawar and currently belongs to the ruling alliance in Maharashtra along with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena.

In 2017, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case to investigate allegations of irregularities following a Supreme Court order. Several officials from the Civil Aviation Ministry and Air India were investigated in the matter.

It is alleged that Patel abused his power by leasing a large number of aircraft for the then public carrier Air India.

Air India allegedly leased four Boeing 777s for five years in 2006 to benefit private interests, even though the airline was originally scheduled to start delivering the aircraft in July 2007. As a result, five Boeing 777s and five Boeing 737s were idle during 2007-09, with an estimated loss of Rs 840 crore.

The FIR alleged that the leasing decision was taken “in collusion with other unidentified persons for extraneous considerations”, resulting in “monetary benefit” to the private company and consequent “loss to the government exchequer”.