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HC seeks report on purchase of 31 Airbus 320s

The Central Bureau of Investigation has been asked to place on record a status report on investigations into the purchase of 31 Airbus 320 aircraft worth Rs 24 billion for Indian Airlines when late Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.

Delhi High Court's direction today followed a public interest litigation by senior advocate B L Wadehra who termed the government's decision in 1986 ''a result of a murky deal which has gone virtually uninvestigated by the CBI.''

A division bench comprising Chief Justice S N Variava and Justice Cyriac Joseph told government counsel Maninder Singh to file a reply by March 14.

''The Airbus 320 deal is one of the five great scandals of the Rajiv Gandhi era,'' Wadehra told UNI. ''The others being Bofors, HDW submarines, St Kitts and the purchase of Westland helicopters in which political masters joined hands with senior bureaucrats.''

The A 320 saga dates back to August 1983 when the board of IA directors set up a committee under the chairmanship of Air Marshal Dilbagh Singh and three other experts to formulate a fleet development plan for the period 1984-91.

The committee recommended purchase of 12 Boeing 757s with a seating capacity of 206 against the Boeing 737 with 126 seats and Airbus 300 with 273 seats. In June 1984, the IA board accepted Boeing 757 as the most suitable aircraft for the national air network and a letter of intent was placed for Boeing the following month. A refundable advance of $ 900 million was paid.

Within four months, the Civil Aviation Ministry asked the IA to evaluate a proposal sent by Airbus Industrie in just three days. But R Prasad, then economic adviser to the IA managing director, said no such proposal was submitted to the airliner.

Still, the ministry persisted with comments from the IA for transmission to the prime minister's office. In June 1985, the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi along with his cabinet colleague and childhood friend Satish Sharma visited Airbus headquarters near Paris in France.

On August 2, 1985, Rajiv presided over a meeting in which it was decided that the IA should go in for Airbus 320 aircraft with V 2500 engines. Among those present in the meeting were the then civil aviation minister, Jagdish Tytler, the civil aviation secretary, S Sidhu, the cabinet secretary P K Kaul and the special secretary at the PMO Gopi Arora.

Ironically, at that time, neither the A 320 nor the engine V 2500 had been manufactured, tried or tested.

On March 15, 1986, a total of 19 Airbus planes were bought. On June 5, 1989, 12 more aircraft were purchased.

Tragically, on February 14, 1990 an IA A 320 crashed at Bangalore, killing about 90 passengers on board. Four days later, the then civil aviation minister, Arif Mohammed Khan, ordered grounding of the entire A 320 fleet.

Next month, the CBI filed the first information report charging the officers of conspiracy and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 and 1988 besides the Indian Penal Code. The FIR alleged that illegal gratification, kickbacks, commissions or bribes of large sums were received from Airbus Industrie and IAE company of the United States which supplied engines V 2500.

On May 3, 1990, the then civil aviation minister made a statement in Parliament, acknowledging that a very important file containing correspondence between the Indian government, its French counterpart and the IA was missing.

Wadehra said nothing concrete has so far emerged from the CBI investigation which began on March 23, 1990.

Among those named in the FIR are former civil aviation secretary S S Sidhu, former IA managing director K Chadha, former planning director and economic adviser to IA managing director, R Prasad, and deputy managing director B K Bhasin.

UNI

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