Corruption allegations mar DGCA

A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE ALLEGATIONS WAS SENT TO AVIATION SECRETARY VUMLUNMANG VUALNAM ON NOVEMBER 7

- Neha LM Tripathi

Allegations of corruption have mired the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the past month, with at least one senior, director-level officer now being accused for the third time of abusing his position of power in a manner that raises significant questions about the sanctity of the aviation regulator's processes.

At least three officials, current and former, whom HT spoke to, and the preliminary probe reports they cited, suggested the allegations, if true, could unearth what may be one of the most egregious cases of DGCA functionaries accepting bribes, ignoring violations, and bending rules.

Most notable among these are allegations against Anil Gill, who has been accused of corruption three times in his eight-year stint in DGCA. Gill was shunted out as the director of Flying Training (DFT) following the latest complaint-filed anonymously- to the aerosports division.

This complaint, sent to DGCA on October 25, alleged that Gill used his position to coerce pilots and flying schools, technically called flying training organisations (FTOS), into paying kickbacks to companies linked to him to look the other way if they were found to have violated rules and protocols.

In some cases, FTOs that could not pay the bribe Gill sought to sell their aircraft at "nominal prices" to the companies linked to him -Bluethroat Aero Global and Sabres Corporate Solutions. These companies would then lease these mostly light aircraft for flight training to other FTOs at rates in the vicinity of 90 lakh a year.