Covid-19: Bombay HC permits airlines to fill middle seats in flights

MUMBAI: In its final order permitting middle-seats to be occupied on board Air India and all domestic airlines, if needed, Bombay high court disagreed with an Air India pilot that recommendations of an expert committee “suspect and perhaps compromised’’. The HC while disposing the pilot’s interim application considered the panel’s views and clarifications and views of the Air Transport Facilitation committee to hold that it was prima facie satisfied that “safety and health of passengers on board qua Covid-19 is adequately taken care of even if the middle seat of the aircraft is not kept vacant due to passenger load and seat capacity.’’
“ We cannot allow an individual to instill such fear in the minds of the members of the public, without any scientifc basis. We would rather follow the advise of experts, if their opinion is found to be fair and reasonable and not tainted with any arbitrariness or ulterior motive,’’ said the HC bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and SP Tavade, in a reasoned 50-page judgment pronounced on Monday.