India
CBI Arrests DGCA Officer and Flight Training Director Over Alleged Bribery
A senior officer of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from the director of a flight training organisation to issue airworthiness certificates for aircraft it operated, without ensuring full compliance with prescribed airworthiness and safety requirements. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sushil Kumar Garg, Deputy Director (Airworthiness) of the DGCA, posted in Chennai, and Sachin Keshav Bhane, director of Ekvi Air Training Organisation Private Limited, on Sunday. The agency alleges that Garg demanded and accepted the bribe to extend undue favours in the airworthiness certification of aircraft operated by the private firm.
Ekvi Air Training Organisation, registered with the Registrar of Companies in Mumbai and based in Thane, Maharashtra, operates a fleet of seven aircraft and has its training base at Salem Airport in Tamil Nadu. The First Information Report (FIR) registered on October 3 states that Garg conducted an airworthiness audit or inspection of the company’s aircraft on July 31. The FIR alleges that he sought a bribe in return for a favourable audit report, without properly inspecting the aircraft and overlooking certain deficiencies observed in the fleet. However, he could not collect the amount on that occasion because he was accompanied by a senior officer.
According to the FIR, on September 23 and September 26, Garg told the company that he would visit its training facility in the first week of October 2026 and collect the payment from its representatives, and that Bhane would be present at Salem during the visit. Later, they negotiated on October 2 and settled at Rs 50,000 per audit. The FIR also alleges that Garg had previously received a mobile phone worth approximately Rs 50,000 from Bhane. On the same day, Garg told his wife that Bhane had given him a packet containing five bundles of currency notes amounting to Rs 2.5 lakh.