The Delhi High Court today asked Air India what action has it taken against a senior pilot for making an alleged false entry in a pre-flight medical test register, when he took no alcohol test before take-off.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva termed such conduct as "a serious issue" as the pilot was being promoted to the post of Director (Operations) in the Board of Air India Ltd (AIL) and would be ultimately responsible for all safety-related issues.
"He forges documents. On such a serious issue, what has Air India done about it? Ultimately when he is promoted, he is going to be responsible for overall safety," the court observed.
It also asked the state-run carrier why such conduct was not brought to the attention of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
The judge did not appear to accept the argument on behalf of the pilot, Captain Arvind Kathpalia, that the doctor who was present in the medical room had "entrapped" him into entering his details into the pre-flight register.
The court questioned how such a senior officer could be intimidated or entrapped by the doctor to enter his details in the pre-flight register.
The judge also wondered why would such a senior officer enter his details into the pre-flight register when he never took the pre-flight breathalyser test and had gone to the medical unit only after flying back from Bengaluru.
According to the plea of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) opposing Kathpalia's promotion, the senior AI pilot flew a plane to Bengaluru from Delhi without taking the mandatory breathalyser test and then operated the return flight also without taking a test.
Thereafter, he had proceeded to forge the pre-flight medical register in Delhi after arriving back here, the petitioners have alleged.
In his reply to the allegations, Kathpalia has contended that he did not take a test to avoid delaying the flight. He has also claimed that the doctors on duty that day had not done their duty as they should have forced him to take the test.
The court was also told that action has been taken against the two doctors.
It said it will hear futher arguments tomorrow on behalf of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) with regard to its preliminary inquiry report and the evidence it has considered.
The promotion of Kathpalia, whose flying licence was suspended till May 7, as Director (Operations) in the Air India Board was approved by the ACC after the DGCA suspended him from flying for three months on February 15 this year. The licence was suspended for allegedly skipping a mandatory pre- flight alcohol test in January this year.
The petitioners have alleged that in Kathpalia's case, there has been no statutory disciplinary proceeding as provided under the rules. They have contended that penal action is also taken against the pilot for repeating such conduct, but nothing has been done in the instant case.
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