The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday suspended its director over corruption allegations.
“There is zero tolerance to malpractices. Any such issue will always be dealt with the strictest measures in accordance with the law," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry's decision to suspend DGCA director Captain Anil Gill comes days after the aviation regulator moved the ministry to transfer the case of bribery against him to the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), HT reported.
The ministry and DGCA had received an anonymous email levelling allegations against Gill, who was recently reassigned to the aerosports department.
Earlier, it was reported that the email alleged that Gill forcefully made a company named Skynex Aeroflight Solutions (an approved FTO by DGCA) to send him to the Czech Republic for training on Piper PA-28 Aircraft, which was not required for his role.
The report quoting an official aware of the matter said that the email alleged Gill used these visits to execute dealership relations between his benami company named Sabres Corporate Solutions and the aircraft manufacturer (Bristell Aircraft) to extract commission which would be in Forex, while the deal was originally to be direct supply of Aircraft to FTO (Skynex),” the official added.
According to officials, the second email and the issues highlighted by it may attract Foreign Exchange Regulation Act/ Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violations.
Gill was transferred from director FT to director Aerosports following an email accusing him of taking aircraft as bribes and other related issues.
According to the letter, Captain Gill misused his position to take three aircraft as a bribe from flying schools and in turn lease the planes to different schools on a lease rental of Rs.90 lakh each, the report said.
