New Delhi, April 22 A Delhi court on Wednesday extended the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official Mudavath Devula and private company executive Bharat Mathur by two days in connection with a bribery case involving alleged payment of Rs 2.5 lakh for regulatory approvals.
The accused were produced before the Rouse Avenue Court upon completion of their earlier three-day CBI remand.
The probe agency had sought five days of further custody to confront the duo with evidence and continue the investigation.
After hearing the submissions, the court allowed a two-day extension of custodial interrogation.
Mudavath Devula, serving as Deputy Director General in the Airworthiness Directorate of the DGCA, and Bharat Mathur, a Senior Vice President associated with a private aerospace-linked firm, were arrested by the CBI on April 18 after allegedly being caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh.
According to the agency, Devula, a senior DGCA official responsible for certifying the airworthiness of aircraft and drones, allegedly demanded undue advantage from private entities in lieu of granting approvals and permissions for applications pending before the regulator.
Bharat Mathur, Senior Vice President of a private firm linked to the aerospace sector, is alleged to have acted as an intermediary in facilitating the bribery transaction between the DGCA official and the company seeking clearance for drone imports.
Following the arrests, the CBI conducted searches at multiple premises linked to the accused in Delhi, which led to the recovery of Rs 37 lakh in cash, along with gold and silver coins and several digital devices.
The development comes days after the CBI formally registered a case against Devula on April 18 for alleged corruption.
The probe agency has indicated that further investigation is underway to ascertain the broader scope of the alleged nexus between officials and private entities.
Meanwhile, the case has triggered political reactions, with Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar alleging systemic corruption within the aviation regulator.
In a post on X, Pawar claimed that the arrest has “exposed the presence of many corrupt officers” in the DGCA, adding that “the arrested person is just a small fish; there are much bigger fish in this organisation”.
He further alleged that if clearances within the DGCA were being granted through bribes, it raised serious concerns about aviation safety and regulatory integrity.
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