Fadnavis orders probe into delay of his US-bound flight

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday, said a probe has been ordered into the delay of the US-bound flight, in which he had travelled for his official tour recently.

An Air India flight to Newark from Mumbai, in which Fadnavis flew for his week-long official tour to the US on June 29, got delayed by nearly an hour reportedly as the CM's aide Praveen Pardeshi had not carried his passport with valid US visa.

"There will be two inquiries. I have requested the Civil Aviation Minister to probe the incident. Another one will be carried out by the state government, which will inquire if the Chief Minister had asked to be offloaded or held up the plane and also how the clearances were given," said Fadnavis.

The Chief Minister was talking to the media after the weekly cabinet meeting ahead of the three-week long Monsoon Session of the State Legislature, which begins on Monday. "Those (passengers) who were sitting beside me in the flight...whom I don't even know, had tweeted that I had not done anything wrong," he said.

Principal Secretary Praveen Pardeshi, who was part of the CM's delagation, was given clearance at the Customs and Immigration counters at the airport despite having forgotten his visa at home. He had a valid US visa on his old passport. He arranged to bring his old passport after which he was allowed to proceed to the aircraft.

The Chief Minister had earlier denied reports that he had delayed the flight. "The allegation that I forced delay of the flight to Newark is false and misleading," Fadnavis had tweeted.

"I reiterate, the reports of me delaying flight are misleading. In fact when I'd already boarded, how can I say I won't travel without delegation?" Fadnavis had posted on Twitter. He had also threatened to initiate "criminal defamation" proceedings in the matter.

Meanwhile, to a question on charges of corruption against his cabinet ministers, Fadnavis said his government was ready for a probe. "We are not averse to a probe provided the Opposition is ready for a debate and discusses all issues with concrete evidence. We have zero tolerance for corruption," he said.