Aviation case: Enforcement Directorate quizzes Praful Patel for 8 hours

Patel, a Nationalist Congress Party leader, reached the ED office around 10 am and stayed till 7 pm. In between, he went out for lunch for a couple of hours, people aware of developments said requesting anonymity.

Former civil aviation minister Praful Patel appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second successive day on Tuesday in connection with an ongoing money-laundering probe against lobbyist Deepak Talwar who had allegedly secured favourable air traffic rights for foreign airlines in collusion with some government officials during Patel’s tenure as aviation minister.

The ED officials questioned Patel on matters related to granting air traffic rights to foreign carriers and purchase of 111 aircraft for the national air carrier during his tenure. (AFP)

Patel, a Nationalist Congress Party leader, reached the ED office around 10 am and stayed till 7 pm. In between, he went out for lunch for a couple of hours, people aware of developments said requesting anonymity. On Monday, the questioning went on for about eight hours, including a lunch break.

The ED officials questioned Patel on matters related to granting air traffic rights to foreign carriers and purchase of 111 aircraft for the national air carrier during his tenure.

Patel did not respond to this newspaper’s queries. ED officials declined comment on the matter. Patel has been questioned in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case because he was named in a recent charge sheet filed by ED as a person known to Talwar. Talwar, who was deported by immigration authorities in Dubai on January 31, 2019 and subsequently arrested, is in ED custody. Earlier, Patel was summoned by the agency on June 6 but he could not appear before it because of prior engagements. He had sought another date to depose before the agency.