The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the defence ministry to submit records relating to the use of Indian Air Force (IAF) planes by former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
During his 18-month tenure, Mr Yadav logged in 1,440 hours 55 minutes of flying in Defence Aircraft. A total of 307 trips cost Rs 23.60 crore to the national exchequer. One-third of these were personal or political tours.
''Besides being a drag on scarce resources, such misuse of official aircraft adversely effects the defence preparedness,” said
a Public Interest Litigation filed by Advocate B L Wadehra. ''The wanton use of scarce defence resources is against national interest.''
After taking over, Mr Yadav used official aircraft nine times in the first month, 18 times in the second, 17 times in the third and 22 times in November 1996. The planes included Boeing 737S, HS 748S, Avros, MI 8 helicopters, Chetaks and AN 32 transport planes.
The government has taken no action so far to recover the dues. Except the prime minister, no other dignitary is entitled to make use of VIP flights for personal purposes.
Report: Zeenews Bureau
