Civil Aviation Ministry says it has given clean chit to Kiren Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Civil Aviation Ministry tonight said it has given a clean chit to Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in the Air India flight controversy and the Prime Minister's Office has been apprised about it.

The Ministry has informed the PMO that Rijiju was not at "fault" for the delay in Air India's Leh-Delhi flight on June 24, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma told PTI.

The PMO had yesterday sought a report from the Civil Aviation Ministry on allegations that Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had caused inconvenience to passengers of Air India owing to his VIP status.

Air India flight from Leh to Delhi was delayed by about an hour and three members of a family were offloaded from the plane to accommodate Rijiju, his aide and J&K Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh.

After the controversy erupted, Rijiju apologised yesterday. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju also had apologised for inconvenience caused to the passengers.