Pilot strike: Delhi HC gives AI 2 days for reinstatement plan

The Delhi High Court today pulled up national carrier Air India for sacking 101 pilots and demanded that the airline explain within two days on how they plan to reinstate the sacked pilots.

Before the hearing in the case was adjourned for the day, the court asked the management has to reply by 18 July on how much time will it take for pilots to be reinstated, and what is their misdemeanor. ““You wanted them to join quickly but now you’re sitting on conciliatory proceedings. You want to tilt the scale in your favour,” the High Court told the airline management, said an NDTV report .

Last week a committee had been formed for the reinstatement of terminated Air India pilots, which would examine the individual requests of the terminated pilots on a case-to-case basis.

The Delhi High Court had July 9 told the Air India management and a section of its pilots, who recently called off their 58-day-old strike, to hold conciliation talks daily before the deputy chief labour commissioner till the dispute was resolved.

Justice Khetrapal posted the matter for hearing on July 16.

Saying that committee would examine the individual request of terminated pilots, Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner SK Chand , in his report, said: “The said committee will examine the individual request of the terminated pilots on case to case basis. The terminated pilots are required to send the request letter/application for considering their cases.”

The report also submitted that the Indian Pilots’ Guild reiterate that all pilots be re-instated on an urgent basis without any discrimination.

It also said that the deputy chief labour commissioner had requested the management that “the entire process of examination of the representations should be completed by the committee at the earliest but not later than 23 July”.

“The management is also requested to consider all the cases of termination of pilots equally sympathetically and without any discrimination in the light of High Court direction given on July 3 and July 9,” the report said.

In the conciliation proceedings held from July 10 to 12, representatives of the airlines’ management assured Chand that the cases of terminated pilots would be considered sympathetically.

The committee constituted in connection with the demand of reinstatement of the pilots comprised of senior executives K.M. Unni, SBO head-MRO (Airframe), N.K. Jain, director (personnel) and R. Harihar, ED (projects) and ED (IR &I).

The court in an earlier hearing had asked the management to consider the reinstatement of pilots terminated from service “sympathetically and expeditiously”.

With inputs from IANS