Bharat Bhushan writes to govt about tampering of file noting on Kingfisher

Former civil aviation regulator EK Bharat Bhushan has written to the government to ascertain whether a file noting about the operational safety of Kingfisher Airlines has been "tampered with."

In his communication to the government, Bhushan is understood to have asked whether the file noting on operational safety of the private carrier has gone missing, sources said.

When contacted, Bhushan, now with the steel ministry as the financial advisor, said "no comments".

In a sudden move, Bhushan, a 1979 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, was unceremoniously removed as Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on July 10, and was replaced by joint secretary in theCivil Aviation ministry Prashant Sukul as interim regulator.

His removal came within a week of the PMO clearing his extension till December.

Bhushan's communication came in the backdrop of Sukul last week telling media that there was no threat to suspend or cancel the license of Kingfisher as he did not find any noting in the official files on the issue.

Though minister Ajit Singh did not offer any reason for Bhushan's abrupt removal, it has been widely reported that the regulator's tough stand against Kingfisher's operational safety and his reported threat to cancel its licence led to his ouster.

Sukul had also denied reports that "action against one of the scheduled airlines (Kingfisher) was under consideration by the DGCA due to non-compliance of safety regulations."