Aranmula Airport: Court rejects probe report

The Court of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Kottayam, has rejected the inquiry report submitted by the Vigilance DySP on a complaint that there were anomalies and violation of law  in filling paddyfields, wetlands and a river for the construction of the proposed Aranmula Airport.
The judge S Soman directed the investigating officer to register a FIR against the persons involved in the case and to conduct a detailed inquiry. The FIR should be submitted to the court within two weeks.
The Vigilance Department had been directed to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the issue on the basis of a complaint filed by Kummanam Rajasekharan, the patron of Aranmula Heritage Village Karma Samithi.  While rejecting the inquiry report submitted by Vigilance DySP Baby Charles, the Court criticised the inquiry officer and the director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), who ratified the report. The court observed that though it was specifically mentioned that if a prima facie case has been established, crime has to be registered against the persons involved in it and the inquiry officer did not do that.  “The report submitted by the officer itself reveals that prima facie case has been established against the officials of the Revenue and Registration Departments and private individuals. However, without registering FIR and not even questioning the petitioner, the enquiry officer has taken shelter under the report,” the court said.
The court has found that in the enquiry report, it was clearly mentioned that no sanction was given by the RDO, Adoor, to fill up the paddyfield or to remove sand from the dry land nearby, for the construction of a runway for the Mount Zion Aeronautical Engineering College, owned by Kozhenchery Charitable Educational Society.
However, Abraham Joseph Kalamannil, the chairman and president of the Society, had levelled many acres of paddyfield and water-logged areas. “The govt machinery remained as mute spectators to the misdeeds and is seen to have given consent to do such mischief by inaction,” the court observed.
The court also observed that the Collector, instead of inquiring the issue and taking action asked Abraham to produce relevant papers from the state government and Civil Aviation Ministry for considering his application.
http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1513726.ece

Mallya plans to pay pending salaries, start services soon

Kingfisher Airlines will settle the pending wages of its employees and plans to restart operations soon, airline promoter Vijay Mallya has said.
 The airline, which ceased operations on October 1 last year, has not paid employees’ wages for the last 10 months. Its operating licence lapsed on December 31 last year.
 At a late night meeting here on Thursday, Mallya said he was committed to paying back the wages as soon as funds start flowing in from the Diageo-deal. Earlier this year, Diaego had agreed to purchase a 53.4 per cent stake in Mallya-led UB Group at an estimated cost of over Rs 11,000 crore.
 Employees protest
The meeting was held a day after a section of employees held a protest at Delhi airport demanding payment of pending wages and sought the intervention of the Government to settle their outstanding dues.
 Kingfisher employees also threatened to hold protests at venues where IPL cricket matches are to be played in case their dues were not settled. Mallya is the owner of a team which will be playing the IPL matches.
 In April and October last year, the airline had promised to settle the pending wages of employees. However, only some of them were paid.
 Revival plan
During yesterday’s meeting, Mallya had claimed that he would be meeting with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation soon to submit a revival plan for the airline.
 Kingfisher is saddled with a loss of Rs 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another over Rs 7,000 crore.
 The Ministry of Civil Aviation has made it clear to the airline that there is no question of even looking at the revival plan till the employees’ wages are settled.
The DGCA has indicated that the airline will have to get comfort letter from banks, income and service tax departments before a final call is taken on allowing the airline to restart operations.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/mallya-assures-revival-plan-salary-to-kingfisher-staff/article4537205.ece