Mumbai: Even as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis denied that he delayed an Air India flight to the United States, an official email confirms that he did held up the flight for 57 minutes.
According to the email, the flight was delayed because Fadnavis' Principal Secretary Praveen Pardeshi had forgotten to carry his old passport which had the US visa. The email further states that Fadnavis refused to leave without his Principal Secretary.
The email was sent by Air India Duty Manager to the airline's CMD & Executive Director.
Fadnavis had earlier dismissed the allegations adding that the claims are false and misleading.
An Air India spokesperson had also said flight AI-191 from Mumbai to Newark was delayed by 57 minutes for 'a mix of reasons'. "The flight was delayed by 57 minutes and that too because of operational, technical reasons. Besides, some delay also occurred on account of the ATC," the spokesperson claimed in response to questions.
The incident took place June 29 when Fadnavis was leaving on a week-long visit to the US along with his industries Minister Subhash Desai, Chief Secratary Swadheen Kshatriya and Principal Secretary Pravin Pardeshi besides other delegation members.
According to sources, Pardeshi was cleared at the check-in but was held back before boarding as the passport he was carrying did not have the valid US visa.
Sources said that Pardeshi had got a valid US visa in his old passport but this was not reflected in the new one which he was carrying. He quickly arranged to bring his old passport which had valid US visa stamp after which he was allowed to proceed to the aircraft,they said.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had demanded an inquiry into the delay of the flight to US. Chavan also trained his guns on authorities, saying "Air India officials have flouted rules under pressure."
"The PM must take action. I don't know if he will act against Fadnavis. The PM or civil aviation minister must order an inquiry into the whole affair. The reputation of the country is at stake," he added.
MPCC president Ashok Chavan said, "The issue is very serious. Over one and a half hours were wasted just because an officer forgot to bring his passport. There should be an in depth inquiry and action should be taken against the guilty."
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