Supreme Court declines to modify order letting Air India assign middle seats

It had allowed the carrier fill the seats till June 6

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to further intervene or modify its May 25 order permitting Air India (AI) to assign middle seats to passengers in non-scheduled flights bringing back citizens stranded abroad.

The court had allowed the public carrier to fill up the middle seats on these flights till June 6, after which AI would have to comply with whatever orders passed by the Bombay High Court in this regard. The case was, in the previous hearing on Monday, remanded back to the High Court, which had already scheduled a hearing on June 2.

On Wednesday, the Bench led by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde refused to entertain an intervention application in the case. It asked the applicants to raise their concerns about safety protocol and social distancing norms in these flights before the High Court.

“The infection is spreading with each flight. Yesterday, an entire [batch of] Air India crew was grounded,” advocate Abhilash Panickar argued for the interveners.

But the Bench stood firm by its previous order, saying “We asked them to bring back stranded Indians and they are doing it... Let the interim arrangement continue for 10 days (till June 6).”

The Central government, on the other hand, assured the court that public health and safety was of paramount concern in the flights.

“We are of the considered view that the petitioner — Air India should be allowed to operate the non-scheduled flights with the middle seats booking up to June 6, 2020. However, after that Air India will operate non-scheduled flights in accordance with the interim order to be passed by the Bombay High Court. In these circumstances, we propose to remand the matter to the Bombay High Court with a request to the High Court to pass an effective interim order after hearing all concerned on June 2. After this date, Air India would operate its flights in accordance with the Bombay High Court’s order,” the Supreme Court had said in its six-page order on May 25.

The court had also made it clear that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was free to alter any norms considered necessary during the pendency of the matter in the interest of public health and safety of the passengers rather than of commercial considerations.

AI and the government had initially appealed to the top court against an interim order on May 22 of the Bombay High Court, which asked the national carrier to operate the flights keeping the middle seats vacant. The High Court order was based on a petition filed by Deven Yogesh Kanani, an AI pilot.