June 27: The CBI has registered a criminal case against Mesco airlines chief, Rita Singh and five others, including three top officials of the erstwhile National Airport Authority (NAA) for allegedly ``conspiring to get prime land at throwaway prices'' at the Juhu airport in Mumbai.

The managing director of the airlines, Natasha Singh, claimed here today the FIR filed in Mumbai was based on ``inaccurate'' reports furnished by the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of NAA and said Mesco has decided to file a defamation suit against the CVO. Singh, daughter of Rita Singh, disputed the premise of the FIR and claimed that the airlines paid at the rate of Rs 450 per square metre for the leased land which is much higher than the alleged amount.

The FIR alleged that 35,000 square feet of land and space in hangar no 10 at Juhu airport had been wrongfully leased out to Mesco airlines in 1992-93 for constructing a hangar and workshop at a very low price, causing substantial loss to NAA.

Others named in the FIR are J K Singh, director of Mesco airlines, Capt Bhagatjee of Mesco, M K Ganesan, director (finance) of NAA, S K Tripathi, regional executive director of NAA, and J P Mathur, senior aerodrome officer of NAA.

The three NAA officials have been charged with violating the set norms by leasing out the land without prior clearance from the management. The hangar space at Juhu airport was allotted to Mesco when the airlines requested the chairman of NAA for space to house its two helicopters, according to the FIR.

The airport authority responded to the request and agreed to provide about 300 square metres of land to Mesco on an ad hoc basis for one month for Rs 50,000, it said. It has been alleged that even before the letter allotting a section of hangar to Mesco was issued, possession of the space was already with the company. An agreement was allegedly signed without incorporating any penalty clause.

In order to favour the airlines, an official of NAA allegedly showed that possession was taken on Dec 1, 1992 although Mesco was using the space since Nov 9, it was alleged.

It was further alleged that Mesco did not vacate the hangar after the expiry of the stipulated period and the monthly payment was also reduced.

The airlines allegedly made another request for allotment of 35,000 sq ft of land at Juhu airport while it was in actual possession of the hangar at the airport, the FIR said, adding the accused naa officials went out of their way to give land to Mesco and it was given on lease for 15 years. The FIR said due to an alleged criminal conspiracy, the airlines signed an agreement for taking the land on lease for about Rs 9.75 lakh for the first three years, to be increased by 15 per cent after every three years.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.