CBI Arrests Reliance Executive, DGCA Official In Bribery Case For Securing Drone Import Approvals

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an official from the aviation regulator and an executive of Reliance Industries in a bribery case related to regulatory approvals for drone imports.

The investigative agency said that the arrests were made following a tip-off that the Reliance executive and the government official had settled on an amount of Rs 15 lakh to process three applications related to drone imports by Asteria Aerospace, Reuters reported.

Mudavath Devula, a deputy director general at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Bharat Mathur, a senior vice president from Reliance, are the two individuals named by the CBI.

However, Reliance has said in a statement that the company was not aware of any unauthorised transactions.

"Mathur was engaged as a consultant. We are not aware of any transaction involving him of the nature being referred to, nor have we approved any such unauthorised transaction,” a Reliance Industries spokesperson said in a statement.

Asteria is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries’ technology arm, Jio Platforms.

The CBI initiated the investigation on an allegation that the accused public servant of DGCA demanded undue advantage from private persons in lieu of issuing approvals and permissions for applications pending with DGCA, the CBI statement said.

Asteria is a drone technology company providing intelligence from aerial data. It develops customised drone solutions and has more than 400 drones deployed so far.

The CBI said that the accused were arrested from Delhi. The agency also seized about Rs 37 lakh in cash, along with gold and silver coins.

The agency has filed a case for criminal conspiracy and bribing a public servant by a commercial organisation.

This has come at a time when Reliance’s telecom arm Jio is preparing for an initial public offering.