Perhaps, its only defence could be that these aircraft, three Beavers and two Pipers, were gifted by the Canadian government to the Department of Agriculture for spraying. Later, they went to Vayudoot which then merged with Indian Airlines.

Since then, for the last seven years, they were parked in the hangar at Safdarjung Airport as no one was willing to decide what to do with them. Result: IA paid Rs 70 lakh to the Airport Authority of India as parking charges. And a matching amount for maintenance.

When contacted, the office of the Civil Aviation Minister Nanath Kumar said it was unaware of the issue. But Anil Baijal, IA managing director, said the sale was done after floating tenders. But he didn't know thedetails, he said.

In fact, it was in January last year, during the caretaker Gujral government, that a decision was taken to sell these aircraft. On February 2, the IA Board approved the sale. Tenders were floated on June 30 and the proposal was sent to the Civil Aviation ministry in August. Which sat on it for more than eight months. The OK came a few days before the Vajpayee government itself became a caretaker one.

The Beavers have been bought by La Range Aviation Services Limited of Canada while the two Pipers were purchased by Classic Vintage Aircraft Services of Germany.