3 months ago
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The Delhi High Court connected Friday (January 30, 2026) questioned the DGCA connected the "indefinite" relaxation fixed to airlines with respect to the implementation of caller norms connected play remainder and leaves for pilots.
Issuing announcement connected a nationalist involvement litigation (PIL) connected the issue, a Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the aviation regulator to explicate the "rationale" down its determination to instantly retreat the caller flight-duty norm which said that "no permission shall beryllium substituted by play rest".
The Bench asked the Directorate General of Civil Association's (DGCA) arsenic good arsenic IndiGo to record their effect to the PIL successful 2 weeks.
On December 5, 2025, DGCA rolled retired the exemption to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) to alteration IndiGo to person much pilots connected work to trim the disruptions and normalise operations.
IndiGo cancelled hundreds of flights crossed the state successful the archetypal week of December past twelvemonth arsenic the hose was not adequately prepared to instrumentality the caller flight-duty norms for pilots.
Counsel for DGCA connected Friday (January 30 2026) submitted that the regulator was monitoring the concern aft the FDTL came into cognition connected November 1, 2025, and the determination to retreat was taken successful airy of an audit arsenic good arsenic representations from airlines connected pilots clubbing the 2 types of offs.
She clarified that adjacent aft the December 5 decision, portion play remainder for pilots continued to beryllium mandatory and governed by the CAR, leaves were a substance of declaration betwixt a aviator and airline.
DGCA counsel besides said that a circumstantial relaxation from nighttime work norms, done different missive issued connected December 5, was fixed to IndiGo till February 10.
The Court, however, asked that erstwhile a impermanent relaxation was fixed for nighttime work norms to IndiGo, wherefore was the norm connected non-substitution of play remainder and leaves withdrawn without immoderate deadline.
"The grievance seems to beryllium that permission and play disconnected can't beryllium mixed up, which you person withdrawn due to the fact that of disruption successful 1 peculiar airline. If you are issuing 2 letters connected the aforesaid day— 1 is till February 10 but archetypal 1 is indefinite. This missive is forever. So if your effect connected the archetypal missive was with respect to disruption and the 2nd missive besides was (due to) disruption but you person constricted the clip up to February 10 (for nighttime duty). Why not for the different one?," the Court said.
"What is the rationale for withdrawal of this? And this applies to each airlines," the Court asked the DGCA counsel.
In the past hearing, the Court had said concerns connected nationalist information owed to the non-implementation of DGCA regulations to forestall aviator fatigue could not beryllium "brushed aside".
The petitioners, Sabari Roy Lenka, Aman Monga and Kiran Singh, person alleged that the relaxation from the fatigue regulations was illegally fixed by the DGCA lone to IndiGo and was prima facie malafide.
The DGCA is required nether the International Civil Aviation Organisation to enforce fatigue regulations uniformly, forestall unsafe rostering, guarantee staffing adequacy, measure hose preparedness and suspend non-compliant schedules, but has consistently failed to instrumentality specified a regime, the plea has alleged.
The substance would beryllium heard adjacent successful April.
