Kanu Gohain receives another three month extension as DGCA chief

New Delhi: With the matter of the appointment of a new director general of civil aviation (DGCA) embroiled in litigation, the civil aviation ministry has now recommended another 3-month extension for the current incumbent, Kanu Gohain. He is already serving his third extension of service, which term expired on 31 August.

The matter of appointing a new director general of the country's civil aviation regulatory body is hanging fire with the civil aviation ministry's earlier appointee, Naseem Zaidi, an IAS officer, failing to clear his name with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

CAT quashed the ministry's appointment of Zaidi, as the next director general, as he failed to meet required standards. His name was recommended for this highly technical post overlooking rules that a non-specialist must have at least 12 years of experience in the field before being considered for appointment.

Moving on a petition filed by joint-director general, AK Chopra, who was overlooked for appointment,  CAT issued a restraining order and also asked the ministry to consider the complainant for selection to the post.

This recommendation has now been made to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) which is expected to take a decision soon.

As for Gohain, his tenure as DGCA initially expired in June 2007, after which he was granted two extensions of six months each. His service period has now been extended for the fourth time.

Naseem Zaidi is currently India's representative at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal.