Delhi HC raps Centre over IndiGo crisis, 'unreasonable' fare surge
Hearing the matter in the high court, the Delhi HC held up Centre and asked who would be responsible for such a crisis.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday took cognizance of the ongoing IndiGo flight disruptions, seeking answers from the Centre as to how a crisis of this level emerged in the first place. Over the past nine days, over 4600 flights have been cancelled by IndiGo airlines, leaving passengers stranded.
Hearing the matter in the high court, the Delhi HC held up Centre and asked who would be responsible for such a crisis.
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"Question is why did such a situation precipitate? Who is responsible? It is not question of individual passengers are stranded at airports. Question is loss to the economy," said Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, as quoted by LiveLaw
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The bench, headed by the Delhi HC chief justice, further questioned if any steps have been taken to compensate passengers and to ensure IndiGo employees are behaving responsibly amid the crisis. The high court also questioned the unreasonable surge in airfares following the mass cancellation of IndiGo flights.
"The situation created in the past week has raised an alarm. The disruption has caused the passengers facing continued inconvenience. Such disruption has even resulted in an unreasonable surge in the fares being charged by the other airlines," said the court.
While the court was not happy with the PIL presented before the bench, it took cognizance of the matter and has called on the Centre to submit its response by December 20.
"Having gone through the petition, at the outset, we may express our dissatisfaction in the manner in which petition has been filed which lacks adequate research and evidence and statutory provisions to support prayer. However, regards to public interest, we have taken cognizance," read the court order as shared by LiveLaw.
