Fadnavis on Sunday said that the probe would also cover an internal Air India email which said that the chief minister had said he would not travel without his delegation.
After the controversy over his aide and principal secretary Pravinsinh Pardeshi failing to produce a valid visa, thus holding up a flight to the United States, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had asked the union civil aviation minister to inquire into the incident. The state government will also conduct a parallel probe.
Pardeshi, who was part of an official delegation headed by Fadnavis to the US, had forgotten to carry his old passport which had the US visa and was stopped from boarding the flight. He later asked a relative to get the old passport. However, the aircraft left for Newark almost an hour behind schedule.
This had led to Fadnavis finding himself in the eye of a controversy. "The allegation that I forced to delay (sic) the flight is false and misleading. I totally deny it," he tweeted later.
Reiterating that he had not asked for the aircraft to be delayed, Fadnavis on Sunday said that the probe would also cover an internal Air India email which said that the chief minister had said he would not travel without his delegation.
"I have clarified in this regard... I have asked the union minister to conduct an inquiry," said Fadnavis, while adding that people in the flight had not complained about them being held up because of him. He stated that on the contrary, his co-passengers had said that they (the chief minister and his delegation) had entered the flight at the designated time.
Speaking on the eve of the monsoon session of the state legislature, which begins from Monday, Fadnavis said the probe will also cover things like how clearances were granted (to Pardeshi) and by whom, what should have been examined while granting this, whether he (Fadnavis) had asked for the plane to be delayed or the delegation to be off-loaded.
The session will see 15 bills including the Maharashtra Right to Public Services bill and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (Amendment) bill, which seeks to freeze the rise in the property tax for houses and commercial establishments which are less than 500 sq ft under the capital value system being tabled and discussed. A bill to create a free regulatory authority to curb profiteering by private educational institutions and amendments to various laws to ensure ease of doing business will also be tabled.
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