A case of alleged cheating and forgery has been registered against Alok Sinha, former joint secretary, ministry of civil aviation, GV Krishna Reddy, GVK group chairman, and GV Sanjay Reddy, MD, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) for getting undue benefits during the Mumbai airport modernisation plan. The FIR was lodged based on a complaint by a petitioner, Vishwas Bhamburkar, an RTI activist from Ahmedabad who relied on a draft performance audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the

subject.

The petitioner has also filed a case against four police officers for failure to register an FIR earlier. Bhamburkar had first approached the airport police. However, the cops refused to register an FIR, after which he approached a suburban court in Mumbai alleging that Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), which manages the Mumbai airport, received undue benefits to the tune of Rs 5,887 crore through various irregularities while constructing the airport. The FIR has been filed on the directions of

the court.

Deputy police commissioner Namdev Chavan, assistant police commissioner Madhukar Sankhye, senior inspector Rajendra Nagbhire and inspector Vijay Sathe have also been charged in the FIR filed under IPC sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). The second FIR names the four police personnel under IPC sections 166 (public servant disobeying law with intent to cause injury to any person), 217 (public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) for not registering the complaint earlier.

Meanwhile, an MIAL spokesperson said, Once we know the contents of the complaint, we will give a suitable response. However, sources in the company said the delay in the modernisation of the project was due to various factors, including political developments. We have to look into the contents in detail and there could be legal options as well, sources added.

With agency inputs