State exchequer’s money is being syphoned off to private operators by Director Civil Aviation Capt. Ajay Chauhan

Rajneesh Kapur

Ahmedabad, a freak case of Gujarat government’s money being syphoned off to private operators by its Director Civil Aviation Capt. Ajay Chauhan has come to our knowledge. This is being going on for the past 18 years, apparently without the knowledge of successive Chief Ministers. The norms and rules laid by DGCA for operating State Air Carriers have been grossly violated during these years. Kalchakra’s investigation has revealed shocking facts which need immediate attention of the DGCA and CM Gujarat.

As per the DGCA directive under, ‘Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) section 3 Air Transport Series C Part X, the aircrafts owned by State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings of the Central/State Governments are being increasingly used for carriage of Governors, Chief Ministers, State/Central Ministers, and other important high dignitaries. In order to ensure better safety oversight control on the operation of such aircraft, it has been decided that the concerned State Government/PSU shall obtain permission from DGCA for operating such aircraft.’

Based on the documents in our possession, it is learnt that Gujarat Govt. does not have Air Operators Permit (AOP) despite owning planes and helicopters for the past 18 years. On routine annual inspection by DGCA, it is told to them that the said permit has been applied for. Surprisingly, DGCA has not bothered to pressurize Gujarat Govt. to obtain the said permit despite the repeated lapse for so many years.

Instead of having its own setup, the state carriers are operating by outsourcing the Operation & Maintenance (O&M) from private companies (such as M/s Aryan). The reason for this unconventional arrangement is to syphon off government money for private benefit. Capt. Ajay Chauhan, who is working as Director Civil Aviation of Govt. of Gujarat, also serves as Aryan’s Pilot. Hence he is paid through Govt. and also through the Aryan Aviation. The Gujarat Govt. gives a contract amount to the maintenance agency for four pilots. Out of which one pilot is Capt. Ajay Chauhan. This is a clear case of conflict of interest. Out of the 4 pilots, Capt. Ajay Chauhan receives the highest amount of salary as a pilot, while he has the lowest experience. The structure itself is doubtful. While selecting the Operations & Maintenance Agency, Capt. Ajay Chauhan struck the above deal with M/s Aryan Aviation. It is alleged that he issued corrigendum in tendering process to favor Aryan Aviation.

The mastermind of this scam, Capt. Ajay Chauhan, does not want this AOP for the government because after obtaining so he will lose his present high position due to his less experience of flying than the other senior pilots working under him. The list of violations of Capt. Chauhan is very long, which surprisingly is being overlooked by the State Govt.

In the helicopter incident that took place on 26.01.2017 at Anand Helipad, where the CM’s helicopter could not be used due to a technical snag, was a case of maintenance failure. One which was not seen in last 10 years. According to the sources, the maintenance agency has not even deputed the required manpower.

Routing of Govt. money to his own pocket
A company namely Kasmac Aviation has the address of one of the property of Capt. Ajay Chauhan in Ahmedabad’s Navrangpura.

Through this company, Capt. Chauhan roots the money from the Aviation Dept of Gujarat Govt. The company accounts seems to have received money from all the agencies having business with Aviation department of Govt. of Gujarat like M/s Indamer Aviation Pvt. Ltd. The employees on the roll of this company does not even exist. Moreover the bank account number 03268380000975 of the company with Yes Bank has Capt. Ajay Chauhan as the signatory.

Kasmac Aviation bills to M/s Indamer, which was earlier O&M agency of both the aircrafts of Gujarat Govt. and now maintains the state Govt. aircraft, for providing 4 pilots for Govt. of Gujarat’s aircrafts. But as per records, 3 of these pilots are on the payroll of Indamer. Whereas, Capt. Ajay Chauhan draws the salary of one pilot through this company. The company accounts has been regularly transferring money to Bobbie Chauhan wife of Capt. Ajay Chauhan. The govt. money is being easily transferred into Chauhan’s bank.

Misuse of GUJSAIL Hangar

Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited (GUJSAIL) Hangar situated at Ahmedabad Airport is a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility by the State Govt. GUJSAIL gives the hangar on rent to other operators for maintenance of their Aircrafts. GUJSAIL charges the lowest rental across the country but offers the best facility. Interestingly, it is not the subsidy but the deep pockets of Capt. Chauhan which is causing a great loss to the State Govt. by keeping the rental at the lowest.

Indian Air Force utilised the GUJSAIL hangar facility for major inspection for 04 of their Aircrafts. M/s Indamer did their Maintenance. However, the above mentioned KASMEC Aviation, owned by Capt. Chauhan raised an invoice to M/s Indamer for providing the manpower. Whereas, Indamer utilized their own manpower for the whole maintenance. It is clear that Capt. Ajay Chauhan allowed the other companies to use the hangar by paying a very low rental to the Govt. Capt. Chauhan, billed the company for providing manpower in lieu of the low rental being paid to the Govt. Such kind of transactions have been done for almost all the aircrafts maintained in the GUJSAIL hangar.

The list is long and the Govt. of Gujarat has suffered a major loss to its exchequer due non-compliance of the DGCA’s rules by obtaining the Air Operator’s Permit. The game plan of Capt. Ajay Chauhan to avoid the approval by DGCA has been going on for the past 18 years. His idea to remain as the Director of Gujarat Civil Aviation Dept. by misinterpreting the rule and outsourcing the required staff has been successful. The DGCA, known for its (in)efficiency has been equally responsible for this.

The aviation mafia is expanding its span throughout India. In the last issue of Kalchakra we had exposed the nexus of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Jet Airways. Together, they both were playing with the lives of innocent public traveling by air. Now it is the turn of Gujarat Government.