Mumbai: Keeping the issue of passenger safety in mind, the Bombay high court on Friday directed the central government, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, Air India and the Indian Pilots' Guild to reply to a public interest litigation that has raised concerns over the national airline "overworking its pilots without regard to mandatory flying hours".
The PIL, filed by Mumbai resident Atul Vora, had asked the HC to intervene and verify whether mandatory work and rest hours are followed by AI to ensure safety of passengers, crew and the aircraft. A bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah was initially reluctant to proceed with the matter as a similar petition had earlier been dealt with by the court. The Chief Justice asked Jamshed Mistry, counsel for the pilots' guild, if it was a similar issue and whether the present PIL was not at the behest of pilots themselves. Mistry said that the IPG had already taken up the issue with both, the DGCA and AI, and said that the issues raised in this PIL were of great concern not only to citizens but the pilots themselves. He said the pilots' guild was not aware who the petitioner was. The petitioner's counsel, Behram Shroff, pointed out that Vora was a frequent flier who often flew with AI.
08/10/11 Swati Deshpande/Times of India
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