Rule twirl over moustache right

New Delhi: Former flight steward Victor Joynath De has lost his last legal battle against Indian Airlines (now Air India) which had sacked him for sporting a handlebar moustache.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected De’s petition, challenging the airline’s decision which he claimed was based on rules that violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution and were discriminatory.
A two-judge bench turned down his plea, saying: “Article 14 does not apply to anything and everything.” Rules, the bench observed, are a “management prerogative” and courts have limited powers of review over administrative decisions.
The resident of Circus Avenue joined the airline in 1968 sporting the now famous moustache. He was grounded in October 1998, when he ignored an airline circular banning moustaches “beyond the upper lip” and was sacked in January 2001, one-and-a-half years before he was to retire.
In response to a submission by De’s lawyer Sanjeev Sen that rules allowed Sikhs to retain their turbans and beards at their workplace, the bench said: “Keeping beards and turbans are an indispensable part of their religion. You can’t compare yourself with a Sikh.”
The bench also dismissed De’s plea that it was a family custom to keep handlebar moustaches.
The court also expressed its annoyance at having to deal with such arguments. “You tell us if you were violating the rules or not. You can’t argue that someone else was being permitted to keep it (the moustache).”
01/04/09 Samanwaya Rautray/The Telegraph

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Categories: Air India Domestic Apr 2009, NACIL Apr 2009