In a new twist to the controversy surrounding his abrupt removal as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation  (DGCA) chief, EK Bharat Bhushan has written to his successor saying he had indeed made a file noting on Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and that it was a very serious matter that the noting had gone missing from the DGCA file.

Bhushan was removed as chief of the DGCA on July 10 — a day after he had reportedly decided to issue a notice to Kingfisher Airlines asking it to put things in order and pay employees.

Bhushan, sources said, wrote to the new DGCA Chief Prashant Sukul —  with copies marked to the cabinet secretariat and civil aviation secretary— on July 14 after apparently coming to know, through media reports, that the regulator had denied that any such noting existed.

On July 12, DGCA had issued a formal denial on the existence of the purported note saying “no such document existed in its records”.

While Bhushan refused to comment on the matter when contacted by Hindustan Times, Sukul confirmed receiving a letter from his predecessor. “I have checked with all relevant officials handling the matter who have denied seeing any such note on the file,” Sukul said.

Sukul said he would soon reply to Bhushan. “DGCA had officially written to Kingfisher Airlines on May 25 expressing satisfaction over the state of affairs at the airline. After that no noting was made on the file,” a source said.

Kingfisher Airlines has said it was “highly incorrect and mischievous to even suggest that the transfer of DGCA was in anyway connected to KFA.”