SC stays Bombay HC order on FDTL

The Supreme Court on Thursday heard the Special Leave Petition filed by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) & Others Vs. the Joint Action Committee of Airlines etc. on the matter of High Court Order of Bombay dated July 01, 2008. The Apex Court directed the airline authorities to enforce the 1992 rules.

•   E-mail Article
•   Printer Friendly
•   Text-Size    

On July 1, 2008, Bombay High Court had passed an interim order staying the DGCA’s order to bring into effect the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) etc. prevailing as in the DGCA order in the Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) 28/1992 for the purpose of amending the Civilian Aviation Rules (CAR) on FDTL issued in July 2007, in view of the fact that substantive change had been made in the FDTL in the CAR of 2007 – which had resulted in representations indicating that the CAR was not fair to all the stakeholders.

In view of the representations, the Government had set up a Committee to look into the FDTL rules and suggested necessary amendments. The Joint Action Committee of Airlines etc. had gone to the Bombay High Court against this decision to set up the Committee for the purpose of amending the FDTL rules.

The DGCA had represented against the stay in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that the AIC of 1992 and its contents should continue to prevail in the interim period while the CAR of 2007 is revised.

The Supreme Court also ordered that the High Court of Bombay should finalize this order by the end of this month after hearing NACIL and Jet Airways who had not been heard despite the fact that they had filed application in the Bombay High Court in the matter.