HC asks Centre how it plans to pay AI dues

Mumbai: The Bombay high court is getting a tad tired of Air India constantly expressing its inability to pay the dues it owes to a large number of its staff.
On Tuesday, the HC directed that the central government must now file an affidavit to indicate how and by when it proposes to pay the staff. The Centre has two weeks to file its affidavit.
Air India, the country's national airline, owes Rs 74 crore in salary revision arrears to several groups of its executive staff, including cabin crew and some pilots.
A bench of Justices Dilip Bhosale and V K Tahilramani said the airline can no longer leave its staff hanging in the air and "has to set a deadline". It could pay in phases but it must fix a schedule, the HC said, while hearing a clutch of petitions against AI for their unpaid dues. The airline's counsel, Sudhir Talsania, said AI could not afford to pay the dues right now.
Senior counsel J P Cama, appearing for a group of retired executive cabin crew, pointed to the rot in the management of the airline and said, "If AI cannot afford to pay, the Centre should."
21/09/11 Swati Deshpande/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India Sep 2011