The Supreme Court on Monday decided to ask state run domestic carrier Indian Airlines whether a flight steward could be sacked or compulsorily retired for sporting moustache.
"How can somebody be removed from a job because of the size of his moustache?" the Supreme Court observed during the hearing on Monday.
A Bench of Justice H.K. Sema and Markandey Katju issued notice to Indian Airlines and Centre as well on a special leave petition filed by Joynath Victor De, challenging a Calcutta High Court judgment for upholding his compulsory retirement on the basis of a regulation framed by the airline prohibiting sporting of moustache by flight pursers/stewards except in the case of Sikhs.
“How can you dismiss a person for keeping a moustache?” the bench wondered as it heard Victor Joynath De’s petition. “It’s absurd and arbitrary,” the court observed and took a bite when the court said to petitioner that your moustache gave you the appearance of Veerappan.
Victor De feels on cloud nine when people praise his handlebar moustache and awards him the mascot of Indian Airlines.
But his happiness disappeared into air when he was grounded first in 1998 and later forced to retire in 2001, when he had just attained the age of 55, three years short of the fixed retirement age.
Everything was fine till 1998 and nobody had problem with his flourishing moustache, but in the same year the airlines came with new rules and regulations defining the appearance of crewmembers.
According to the regulations, “Flight personnel should be clean-shaved (except Sikhs) with nearly trimmed moustaches not beyond the upper lip.” The Sikhs were however kept separated with the new move.
The 62 years old De claims that since 1968 he has been sporting moustache when he joined Indian Airlines as crewmember. Gradually he got official promotion and reached to assistant manager, but never ever his moustache been an issue till 1998, when the novel regulations came into existence.
I wore the handlebar moustache as per the tradition of our family and my personal spiritual faith, was quoted as saying De, a member of London’s famous Handlebar Club.
De had appealed against Indian Airlines decision at the Calcutta high court which had set aside his "compulsory retirement" in August 2002 and ordered Indian Airlines that he be reinstated. But a division bench of the same court in July 2007 overturned the decision, after which De had appealed to Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will now decide whether De's, moustache groomed since 1968, could be a reason for his dismissal from service. The Airlines has given four weeks to respond.
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