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The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry against unknown officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) alleging gross misconduct in leasing 190 acres of government land at Delhi airport to DIAL at a nominal price compared to the market price.
A preliminary enquiry is to examine if any offence has been committed. If the agency investigation finds something amiss, the PE can be converted into a regular case with the filing of a First Information Report.
The alleged irregularity was brought out in a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for 2012-13 which said that an upfront fee was used as base to calculate the price for the additional land provided by AAI to DIAL. This allowed AAI to lease out an additional 190.19 acres at a meagre amount of ₹ 6.19 crore.
In a media statement, the GMR Group, however, claimed that it was not “aware of any” preliminary enquiry by the CBI. “Neither we have received any communication on this matter from any agency.” It said the allegation that it was given land at a reduced rate, which caused huge financial losses to the government, was “baseless, unfounded and devoid of any legal foundation”.
GMR is the largest shareholder in DIAL, a joint venture company that won the contract to modernise Delhi airport. AAI, Fraport and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad are the other partners in DIAL.
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