Over three years ago, Bandra resident Dr Manisha Kanagali had accused her brother Captain Ajay Khadtale of using fraudulent means to get a pilot license.
The Bombay High Court on Friday asked Air India (AI) and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to file an affidavit regarding the procedures they follow to verify the certificates submitted by candidates applying for commercial pilot licenses (CPL). The development was regarding the case of an AI pilot being accused of submitting fake Class XII certificates.
Over three years ago, Bandra resident Dr Manisha Kanagali had accused her brother Captain Ajay Khadtale of using fraudulent means to get a pilot license. Claiming that Khadtale was endangering the lives of passengers, she even sought information under the Right To Information (RTI) Act to prove that the Class XII certificates he submitted were fake.
When dna contacted Khadtale, he said, "All certificates submitted by me at every juncture of my career are genuine. If the council is not able to find the records of these certificates or if they are untraceable, is it my fault?" During the course of two years, dna highlighted the failure of AI and DGCA in taking any action against the captain. Finally in June this year, the court was informed that he has been suspended from the service.
Meanwhile on Friday, a division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi passed the direction after AI claimed that it was DGCA's duty to verify the authenticity of documents. Appearing for petitioner Dr Kanagali, advocate Indu Prakash Tripathi said, "On its part, DGCA has cancelled Khadtale's Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), which is meant for commander-level pilots, and plans to cancel his CPL soon."
In another major development in the case, Dr Kanagali submitted a list of 19 more pilots who allegedly procured licenses after submitting fake certificates.
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