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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has recently refused to entertain a plea by the Indian Airlines Officers Association seeking arrears of pay and allowances, alleging that the airline ceased to be a government-controlled company and is no longer amenable to its Writ jurisdiction.

Justice Jyoti Singh observed, “It is an admitted position that during the pendency of the present writ petition, on 27.01.2022, 100% shareholding of Air India has been acquired by M/s. Talace Pvt. Ltd. and Air India have ceased to be a Government controlled company, is no longer amenable to the writ jurisdiction of this Court….. the writ petition cannot be entertained.”

The petitioner association, in the plea, sought arrears of pay and allowances for the period of January 1, 1997, to July 31, 2006.

Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar appearing for Air India Airlines objected to the maintainability of the petition and contended that the disinvestment process initiated by the Government of India, Air India Limited (‘AIL’) has ceased to be a public body and therefore, no writ can lie against AIL in the circumstances that exist today.

The senior counsel contended that originally AIL was a statutory body constituted under the Air Corporations Act, 1953, however, post its repeal and in terms of the Air Corporations (Transfer of Undertakings and Repeal) Act, 1994, it had become a wholly owned company of the Government of India.

“Where AIL has been privatized and the entire shareholding of the Government of India in AIL has been transferred to M/s. Talace Pvt. Ltd., (a wholly owned subsidiary of M/s. Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.), no writ petition can lie under Article 226 of the Constitution of India as AIL is no longer a public body or Authority within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India”, argued the senior counsel.

While disposing of the petition, the single-judge bench noted that it is undeniably true that when the writ petition was filed in 2016, it was maintainable because AIL was subject to writ jurisdiction as a public body. However, due to the change in circumstances, this Court is barred from issuing a writ of mandamus in the current case.

The court made it clear that the petitioner association is free to take recourse to remedies available to them in law before an appropriate forum and Air India shall be responsible for clearing the dues if the claim succeeds. Furthermore, the court clarified, “The time period for which the writ petition has been pending in this Court will be excluded for calculating limitation if the Petitioners seek any remedy by instituting new proceedings in a Forum where the question of limitation will be relevant and may arise.”

Case Title: Indian Airlines Officers Association v. Union of India & Anr.