MEA declines info under RTI on Lalit Modi's passport issue

June 28, 2015

New Delhi, Jun 28: At a time when Sushma Swaraj is under fierce opposition attack for "helping" Lalit Modi obtain UK travel documents, her External Affairs Ministry has refused to provide any information about the passport issue involving the scandal-tainted former IPL boss.

The Ministry has refused to answer an RTI application containing seven questions including who had taken a decision not appeal in the Supreme Court the Delhi High Court's decision restoring Modi's passport.

"Kindly note that the office of External Affairs Minister (EAM) has informed that the questions in Serial 1 to 3 of your RTI does not seem to fall under the purview of the RTI act, 2005. As regards to queries Sl No 4 to 7, no information is available with EAM’s office," the MEA said in its reply dated June 26.

The MEA, however, said the application has been "transferred" to its Consular, Passport and Visa Division as well as to the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home.

The RTI query, filed by one Rayo from Haryana, was received by the Ministry on June 19 when the opposition was piling up pressure on Swaraj on the ‘Lalitgate’ row.

The first three questions included why Swaraj did not advise Modi to apply for a temporary travel document to the Indian High Commission in London instead if she intended to help him on humanitarian grounds to travel to Portugal. It also asked why the External Affairs Minister did not insist on Modi’s return to India as a condition for issuing a temporary Indian travel document.

The questions from Sl no 4 to 7 included a query on whether the government has lodged any objections to UK for granting residency permit to Modi, who has refused to appear before the Enforcement Directorate, and what steps the government has taken since the issuance of fresh passport to the former IPL boss to enforce the ED summons.

It also included a query on who took the decision not to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against Delhi High Court’s ruling setting aside cancellation of Modi’s passport. It asked whether the ED, at whose instance the passport was cancelled, was consulted on the issue.

The RTI application also asked about government’s response to Modi’s "wild charge that his life will be in danger if he returned to India."

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IndiGo CEO says less than 1,000 cancellations on Dec 6; normalcy by Dec 15

News Network

December 5,2025

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said.

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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