Jul. 18—The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking to stop flight operations of air carrier SpiceJet in the wake of several incidents of technical malfunction that have been lately reported.
A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad said that the Aircraft Act provides robust mechanism in respect of the aviation industry and the court cannot stop an airline from operating in the country based on the averments (allegations) made in a petition.
The plea by a lawyer, Rahul Bhardwaj, had also sought a commission to inquire into whether the operations of SpiceJet are being properly managed. The domestic carrier has been in headlines lately over various incidents.
Earlier this month, the aviation regulator — the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) — issued a warning notice, saying the budget carrier had failed to establish its services were safe, efficient and reliable. In its notice, the regulator highlighted that its review found poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions (as most of the incidents are related to either component failure or system related failure).
Several snags have been reported on the flights operated by the airline recently. Since May, at least nine incidents have been reported. "From the above it may be deduced that SpiceJet Ltd. has failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services under terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. Now, therefore, the Accountable Manager of M/s SpiceJet Ltd., is hereby called upon to Show Cause within 3 weeks of receipt of this Notice as to why action should not be taken against the airline. In case no reply is received within the stipulated period, the matter will be proceeded ex-parte.," DGCA's notice read.
A couple of days ago, a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai to Srinagar was held up for six hours amid surprise checks by the regulator.
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