Mr. Parth Kaushik, Adv. alongwith v. MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION ORS

Through: Ms. Anjana Gosain and Mr. Anuj Kumar, Advocates for UoI. Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Sr. Adv. alongwith Mr. Dhruv Dewan, Mr. Amit Mishra, Ms. M. Goyal and Mr. Shivam Goel, Advocates for R3. Mr. Harish Malik, Adv. for R4. Mr. Anirudh Bakhru, Mr. Ayush Puri, Mr. Sultan Haider Jafri and Ms. Archita Mahlawat, Advocates for R5. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN DATTA O R D E R 08.04.2025 The present petition has been filed by the petitioners in the context of %

1. the alleged harassment/ difficulties faced by the petitioners while onboard a flight operated by the respondent no.3 (Air India Limited) from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India to San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, USA on 11.11.2020. 2. It is submitted that the petitioners who were travelling in the business class section of the said flight had to suffer immensely on account of the fact that throughout the duration of the 16 hours non-stop flight, the respondent no.3, without any prior intimation, did not serve any proper meals. Instead, This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2025 at 16:41:34 the petitioners were informed that they would only be served one small pre- packed snack packet and a hot meal towards the end of the 16 hour flight. 3. It is submitted that the petitioner no.1, who is a diabetic patient, is required to eat proper meals, and also take regular medication on account of her medical condition. The petitioner no.2 also takes certain medication on account of his medical condition related to blood pressure. 4. It is submitted that despite the petitioners informing the flight crew about their predicament, the flight crew was apathetic and did not properly redress the difficulties of the petitioner. 5. It is further submitted that at request of the petitioners, while a small meal was initially served to them by the respondent no.3 / Air India Limited, the petitioners after some time developed certain medical issues for which also the arrangements were hopelessly inadequate and even basic emergency medicines were not available onboard the aircraft. The petitioners allege that the same is in violation of the extant regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA / respondent no.2) pertaining to provision of medical supplies in aircraft pursuant under Section 2 Series X Part III of the Civil Aviation Requirements. 6. Accordingly, it is sought that an adequate mechanism be set up to review the quality and quantity of the food served to flight passengers, particularly, on long haul flights. 7. In the counter-affidavit dated 26.08.2021 filed on behalf of respondent no.3, the allegations raised by the petitioner have been denied. The said respondent has also questioned the maintainability of the present petition inasmuch as the petitioners have filed the present petition without availing the equally efficacious remedy of filing a complaint on ‘AirSewa’ This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2025 at 16:41:34 portal which is a well-established grievance redressal mechanism for flight passengers. 8. In the counter-affidavit dated 24.01.2022 filed on behalf of the respondent no.2 (DGCA) it has been brought out that the DGCA, vide order dated 26.05.2020 issued certain guidelines/ Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) to be followed by airlines and passengers in the context of the prevailing situation on account of the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is pointed out that the said SOP was amended vide letter no. AV.29017/5(II)/2020-DT dated 27.08.2020 issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (respondent no.1) which, inter alia, records the amended provisions of the SOP as under:- “Airlines, private aircraft and charter flight operators operating flights on international sectors may serve hotmeals and limited beverages as per the standard practices subject to strict compliance with the following conditions: i.In all classes, tray set-up, plates and cutlery will be completely disposable with no re-use, or cleaned and disinfected retables will be used. ii. Used disposable trays/ crockeries/ cutleries shall not be re-used. Used retables shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before re-use. iii. In all classes, tea/ coffee/ alcoholic and non alcoholic beverage services will be in disposable cans/ containers/ bottles/ glasses. There will be no pouring service and beverages will be served in single use disposable units. iv. All used disposable and rotable meal trays/ plates/ cutleries/ beverages bottles/ cans/ glasses will be disposed off in the trash bags/ carts by the crew, at the end of the meal service. v. Crew shall wear a fresh set of gloves for every meal/ beverage service vi. The passengers would be informed of the above practices for strict compliance before the start of catering services by way of passenger announcements.”

9. It is also averred in the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of respondent This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2025 at 16:41:34 no.2 (DGCA) that there are a number of grievance redressal portals where grievances of the kind raised by the petitioner in the present petition can be agitated. In this regard, reference may be made to the averments made in paragraph 3 (xiv.) of the counter-affidavit which reads as under:- “xiv. That the contents of para 3(xiv) are wrong and vehemently denied. It is denied that the Answering Respondent does not a proper mechanism in place for grievance redressal. It is submitted that there are a number of Grievance redressal portals which are online portals such as CPGRAMS, PMO (PG), Air Sewa and even the grievances are being received also through emails. Since the Petitioner did not raise any grievance against the Respondent No.3 to the answering Respondent, there was no opportunity for the answering respondent to conduct its own investigation and inquiry. The Ministry of Civil Aviation including the Answering Respondent receive a number of complaints through all these portals and are being handled for redressal as per existing procedure and law.

10. In view of the aforesaid, while taking note of the necessity to provide a proper redressal to the grievances raised by the petitioners, the present petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondent no.1 (Ministry of Civil Aviation) consider the present petition itself a complaint/grievance which may be duly considered and appropriate action thereon (as may be deemed warranted in accordance with law) under written intimation to the petitioner. 11. With the aforesaid direction, the present petition is disposed of. 12. Needless to say, in case the petitioners are aggrieved by the outcome of the aforesaid exercise, they shall be at liberty to avail appropriate remedies, as may be available under law. APRIL 8, 2025/uk SACHIN DATTA, J This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2025 at 16:41:34