Air India a private company, staffers’ writ petitions not maintainable: Bombay HC

MUMBAI: “With its privatization, Air India Ltd (AIL) has ceased to be an Article 12 authority (State),” said Bombay HC on Tuesday. The HC held that four petitions, filed by the employees of the airline, claiming protection of their fundamental rights over flying emoluments, wages and arrears, “have ceased to be maintainable by reason of privatization of AIL”.

“There is and can be no doubt that no writ or order or direction can be issued on these writ petitions against AIL for an alleged breach of a fundamental right,” said the bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik. The petitions were filed by employees in representative capacity between 2011 and 2014, before the privatisation of AIL.

The HC was deciding on their maintainability. “The writ petitions, although maintainable on the dates they were instituted, have ceased to be maintainable by reason of privatization of AIL which takes it beyond our jurisdiction to issue a writ or order or direction to it,” said the HC after extensively hearing senior counsel Sanjay Singhvi for the employees and senior counsel Darius Khambata and Kevic Setalvad for AIL, among others.