The Delhi High Court has recently dismissed criminal proceedings against a commercial pilot who faced accusations of flying an Air India plane between Delhi and Bangalore without undergoing mandatory pre-flight breath analyser tests. The case, titled Arvind Kathpalia v. State, involved a host of charges, including forgery, filed by the Delhi Police against the pilot.
Simultaneously, Air India’s disciplinary authority had issued a chargesheet against the pilot, alleging forgery and misconduct. However, Air India ultimately absolved the pilot of these allegations, considering that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had already imposed sanctions on him twice.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee, acknowledging the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings against the pilot, asserted:
“The continuance of the FIR under the aforesaid circumstances shall, in the opinion of this Court, result in the petitioner undergoing the ordeal twice over again for the same offence. The petitioner cannot be subjected to double jeopardy for the same offence, once after having been given a clean chit on merits in the disciplinary proceedings.”
The Court emphasized that with Air India’s termination of disciplinary actions against the pilot based on relevant records, there was little justification for the FIR, which alleged similar offenses, to persist.
“This court is of the opinion that allegations against the petitioner are wholly insufficient to make out a case against him, much less for keeping the FIR alive. Moreover, in view of the prevailing facts involved and the legal position discussed here in above, in the opinion of this Court, subsistence of the present criminal proceedings emanating from the FIR in question against the petitioner is likely to result in subjecting him to unwarranted injustice,” the Court stated.
The Court pointed out that there were hardly any grounds for the petitioner’s conviction in the present case, as the facts in question were no longer applicable.
According to case records, on January 19, 2017, the petitioner operated a flight from Delhi to Bangalore without undergoing the mandatory pre-flight breath analyser test. Upon arrival in Bangalore, he was requested to take the test but proceeded to fly the plane back to Delhi without doing so.
It was alleged that instead of reporting for the post-flight breath analyser test, he falsely entered information in the register of the Pre-flight Medical Examination Room (PFMER) regarding the flight he had operated from Delhi to Bangalore. Additionally, he was accused of tampering with the register after completing the flight to Delhi.
Following a complaint against the pilot, the DGCA suspended his flying license.
The pilot was represented by Senior Advocate Maninder Singh and Advocates Dinhar Takiar, Simran Chaudhary, Harsh Vashisht, and Isha Khanna. Additional Public Prosecutor Mukesh Kumar appeared for the State.