The CBI has sent a fresh reminder to the Civil Aviation ministry seeking sanction to initiate probe against six senior officials for alleged irregularities in the over Rs 8,000 crore Airbus deal for supply of 43 aircraft to erstwhile Indian Airlines in 2005.

The agency has not been able to initiate probe against these officials as it has not received mandatory sanction from the ministry despite repeated communications, CBI sources said.

The CBI requires sanction of the ministry to intitiate probe in the role of these officials under Section 6(a) of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.

The issue of granting sanction for prosecution has been deferred for the last seven months, the sources said.

The ministry had sent back the file to the CBI earlier saying the agency may reconsider its decision to file an FIR against its officials, including one of the rank of Additional Secretary.

However, the CBI persisted with its request claiming their was prima-facie evidence to initiate a probe, the sources said.

The aviation ministry had reasoned out that the responsibility on the officials was not as big as projected by the CBI in its findings but the agency wrote back saying that it stuck to its findings.

The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry on January 14, 2010, against unknown persons of the ministry and has completed its initial probe in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of 43 aircraft from M/s Airbus Industries.