Former civil aviation regulator EK BharatBhushan has written to the government to ascertain whether a file noting aboutthe operational safety of Kingfisher Airlines has been "tamperedwith."
In his communication to the government, Bhushan isunderstood to have asked whether the file noting on operational safety of theprivate carrier has gone missing, sources said.
When contacted, Bhushan, now with the steel ministry as thefinancial advisor, said "no comments".
In a sudden move, Bhushan, a 1979 batch Kerala cadre IASofficer, was unceremoniously removed as Director General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) on July 10, and was replaced by joint secretary in the Civil Aviationministry Prashant Sukul as interim regulator.
His removal came within a week of the PMO clearing hisextension till December.
Bhushan's communication came in the backdrop of Sukul lastweek telling media that there was no threat to suspend or cancel the license ofKingfisher as he did not find any noting in the official files on the issue.
Though minister Ajit Singh did not offer any reason forBhushan's abrupt removal, it has been widely reported that the regulator'stough stand against Kingfisher's operational safety and his reported threat tocancel its licence led to his ouster.
Sukul had also denied reports that "action against oneof the scheduled airlines (Kingfisher) was under consideration by the DGCA dueto non-compliance of safety regulations."