Indigo penalised ₹22 crore, senior VP removed over mass cancellations: Centre to Delhi High Court

The Central government on Thursday informed the Delhi High Court that it has imposed a penalty of ₹22 crore on Indigo and asked the airline to relieve its senior vice president from duty over the mass cancellation of flights in December last year that had left millions of passengers stranded. .Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma said that Indigo has been ordered to pledge a bank guarantee of ₹50 crore in favour of DGCA to ensure compliance with the directives and long-term systemic correction. Sharma added that warnings have also been issued to the airline’s officials. The ASG made the statement before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia while the Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking an investigation into the fiasco. A sealed cover report was also handed to the Court detailing the investigation into the disruptions. Further, the Court was told that affected passengers have been refunded, and the process is underway to pay compensation to the people affected. After hearing the case briefly, the Bench asked the government to file an affidavit in this regard in two weeks. The case will be taken up next on February 25. .The Court was hearing a PIL filed by advocates Akhil Rana and Utkarsh Sharma seeking a judicial inquiry into Indigo's mass cancellation of flights during three days from December 3 to 5 last year.The airline cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 flights without warning leading to chaos at airports with millions of passengers left stranded.Indigo was severally hit due to the shortage of pilots and its failure to implement the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL).After the crisis unfolded, DGCA granted an exemption to Indigo to tackle the ongoing crisis, and also ordered Indigo to cut scheduled flights at least by 5 percent.The PIL before the High Court has sought fair compensation to people whose flights were cancelled and relief for people stuck at the airports.The PIL argued that widespread "arbitrary cancellations, unexplained delays, non-payment of mandatory refunds, overbooking, unfair trade practices, discriminatory conduct, DGCA non-compliance, and concerns surrounding aviation safety and airport-monopoly distortions" pose a serious threat to passenger rights and public welfare..During the previous hearing of the case on December 10, 2025, the High Court had questioned the Union government for its failure to prevent the chaos caused by cancellations and delays in Indigo flights. The Bench had also said that the report of the inquiry into the reasons behind the disruption must be placed before the Court in a sealed cover.The same was submitted today. The case will be heard next on February 25. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.