Delhi High Court Declines PIL Seeking "Four Times" Compensation For Tickets Recently Cancelled By IndiGo, Judicial Inquiry Against DGCA

The Delhi High Court has declined a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking four times compensation for flight tickets recently cancelled by Indigo airlines, as well as a judicial inquiry against the DGCA over recent lapses which left millions of travellers stranded.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela heard the plea.

Advocate Virag Gupta appeared for the petitioner. ASG Chetan Sharma represented the Union Government and the DGCA.

At the outset, the Bench remarked that it had already engaged with the same issues recently in another petition, noting that proceedings in that matter were still underway and no final adjudication had been made.

Gupta submitted that although a show-cause notice had been issued earlier, “issues raised by this Court were not addressed”, and the DGCA was yet to file its report. He stressed that the instant PIL sought additional interim reliefs, contending that over 12.5 lakh passengers suffered due to over 5,000 flight cancellations in December, and refunds had not been fully processed.

The Bench questioned the necessity of a separate PIL: “Why are you so charged? Are parties restricted from raising these points in the earlier petition? What benefit is anyone going to get from multiplicity of matters? Why can't you seek impleadment in that matter?”

When Gupta pressed for four-fold compensation, ASG Sharma countered: “When it comes to trauma of passengers, why restrict it? Why insist on four times?”

The Court also observed that one of the petitioner's prayers relating to class action relief had an alternate statutory remedy: “We can't take care of a class action.”

Gupta argued that under the new consumer protection regime, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was empowered to initiate proceedings against airlines, but the show-cause notice was issued only to the CEO and not the company. He requested that the airline be directed to furnish an undertaking confirming full refunds and compliance.

The Court reiterated that it had not tied compensation but would consider the issue after receiving the DGCA report, and suggested the petitioner consider intervention in the ongoing matter instead of separate proceedings.

Background

The plea has been filed by Centre for Accountability and Systematic Change CASC.

It has been alleged that due to fault and lapses of Indigo and non-enforcement of regulatory compliances by DGCA, vulnerability of aviation sector is exposed which may hamper the growth of “Viksit Bharat.”

The plea states that no penal action is taken against “big flyers like Indigo”, which is giving “an impression of VIP syndrome.”

It adds that instead of taking remedial, penal action and giving appropriate compensation as per the existing laws, the matter is being diverted in the name of enquiry and emphasis on need for new laws.

The plea seeks initiation of a class action suit against Indigo for the suffering and damages of the passengers during the crisis.

On December 10, the Court had issued notice on a PIL seeking independent judicial investigation into the Indigo crisis and large scale flight cancellations.

The court had also directed that provisions for payment of compensation to stranded passengers will be "strictly adhered to by Indigo" which shall be "ensured by Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA as well".