Mr E. K. Bharat Bhushan has been removed as the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.
In a late afternoon development, the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Mr Prashant Sukul, was asked to take over as the DGCA, holding additional charge.
Last week, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved the extension of additional charge for Mr Bhushan for one year from December 2011 or till the appointment of a regular incumbent. The Ministry was also directed to fill up the post within this period.
Mr Bhushan, a 1979 batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, will now move back to the Ministry of Civil Aviation as Additional Secretary. Mr Bhushan, who assumed charge in December 2010, is believed to have ruffled feathers in the domestic industry by his tough stance on forcing airlines to lower fares and seeking a comprehensive audit of their finances and safety norms.
The removal of Mr Bhushan comes hardly a day after the DGCA is believed to have issued orders that either debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines pay its employees their past wages in the next 15 days or shut operations.
On Tuesday, Kingfisher flights operated with ATR aircraft were disrupted with pilots refusing to fly until their back wages were paid. The airline is said to have not paid its employees wages since February. Kingfisher Airlines had submitted several turnaround plans to the DGCA but was unable to stick to any of them, sources said.
This is the second time that Mr Bhushan has been removed from his post. In 2009, he was given temporary charge as CMD of Air India for a few days before Mr Arvind Jadhav was appointed.