Delhi High Court refuses to entertain Ashwini Upadhyay's plea for removal of 'Victorian Territory' sign from Indian aircraft

The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking removal of the call sign Victorian Territory/Viceroy Territory (VT) written on all Indian aircraft. .A Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that it is not an issue that should be dealt with by the court and only the government can act on such requests. The Court, therefore, asked Upadhyay to approach the government with a representation."We are not supposed to do it. It is for the government to do... What is the legal issue here? It has to be done by the government. They are the lawmakers. It is a policy decision. We can't do it," Chief Justice Sharma remarked during the hearing. Upadhyay then proceeded to withdraw the petition. .In his petition, Upadhyay had argued that removal of this sign is necessary to security and sovereignty of the country as well as right to freedom, right to dignity and rule of law.“The prefix 'VT' stands for ‘Victorian Territory and Viceroy Territory’, which is the nationality code that each aircraft registered in India is required to carry. The Code is generally seen just before the rear exit door and above the windows. All the domestic airlines have the prefix, which is followed by unique alphabets that define the aircraft and who it belongs to. For example, on Indigo flights the registration VT is followed by IDV, i.e., VT-IDV, for Jet, it is VT-JMV,” the petition had said.It was argued that Britain set the prefix VT for all colonies in 1929 but countries like China, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka changed their signs after independence but in India, it has remained offending its sovereignty.Upadhyay argued even the Prime Ministers’ official aircraft has the call sign VT in it.“Is the Prime Minister a leader of a free democratic country or of a Viceroy Territory? Pakistan had their call sign changed to AP after bifurcation. Similarly, Bahamas changed the sign from 'VP-B' to 'C6', Nepal changed to '9N', Sri Lanka from 'VP-C' to '4R' and Zimbabwe from 'VP-W' to 'Z'.”The petition added that though various efforts have been made to change the sign but they have remained futile.“In 2004, the aviation ministry approached the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to change the code but no decision has been taken so far. It is a code given to us in 1929 by British rulers, denoting us as British territory. It’s very unfortunate that India, even after 75 years of Independence, retains VT, the symbol of slavery,” the plea said.