Delhi High Court refuses to entertain fresh PIL on Indigo fiasco

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to pass any directions on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by NGO Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) seeking an inquiry against the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the Indigo fiasco and also seeking fourfold compensation to passengers who were left stranded at airports due to the cancellation of Indigo flights. .A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said that a PIL on the Indigo flight cancellation issue is already pending before the High Court, and the petitioner should have sought an impleadment in that matter instead of filing a fresh PIL.The Court questioned the petitioner's motive behind the PIL and said that the ideal course of action for the petitioner would have been to seek impleadment in the pending PIL."PILs are not to score brownie points. You should have taken impleadment in that matter and we would have allowed it," the Bench said.The Court then noted in its order that the issues raised in the present PIL are already being examined by the Court in the earlier PIL.Hence, it declined to entertain the PIL while granting liberty to the petitioner to implead itself in the pending case."This court has already taken congisance of the issue and the issues raised in this petition can very well be pleaded in the said writ petition. Therefore, we find appropriate for the petitioner to seek impleadment in the writ petition. The counsel for petitioner however says that the prayer here are different. We do not see any reason as to why the concerns raised in this PIL cannot be taken cognisance of in the earlier PIL. The jurisprudence developed by Hon'ble Supreme Court and various High Courts across the country around PILs permits the court to expand the scope of the petition if the same appears in public interest. For the same reason, we decline to entertain this writ petition with liberty to the petitioner to seek impleadment in the earlier PIL," the Court said in its order..The pending PIL in relation to the Indigo crisis was heard by the Court on December 10 when it ordered Indigo to ensure compensation to the affected passengers.In that matter, the Court had directed the Central government to take action against erring airlines..The fresh petition filed by the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) argued that IndiGo’s failure to comply with revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms triggered a nationwide aviation crisis, resulting in the cancellation of more than 5,000 flights.The disruptions left passengers stranded across major airports with complaints of inadequate communication, delayed refunds and sharply inflated airfares despite government-imposed caps, the plea states.The plea has sought a direction to the Central government to initiate a class action suit against IndiGo under Sections 2(5)(iii) and 35(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.According to the petition, the DGCA failed in its duty and therefore, a retired judge or the Lokpal should investigate its negligence and role in precipitating the crisis..When the petition was taken up today, advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for the petitioner organisation, said that 12.5 lakh passengers suffered due to Indigo's actions.He further said that the government should initiate a class action suit against the airline since not all passengers have the capability to move consumer forums for compensation."Not everyone can go to consumer courts," Gupta said."Please explain the law to us. If there is a class action suit, would everyone have to go to consumer court?" the Court asked.Gupta said that despite the court's directions in another PIL, refunds have not been given till now."They are not giving any compensation. The four times compensation is part of their policy. They have not given any refund," he submitted."Why are you restricting it to four times. It could be four thousand times," Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said, intervening on behalf of the Central government"Till today, no notice has been issued to Indigo. Notice has been issued to the CEO," Gupta pointed out.However, the Court said that since there is a pending matter on the subject, multiplicity of litigation might not help the passengers."What benefit you are the passengers are going to get by multiplicity of proceedings. Why don't you seek impleadment in the earlier PIL?" the Court asked.It also opined that the petitioner was requesting for a direction to the Central government to institute a class action action suit and also award four time the damages.It said that the two prayers cannot stand together because if a class action suit is instituted, then it would be upto the concerned consumer forum to decide on the compensation amount."Is there is any statutory mechanism to determine the damages to be paid? For class action, if any class action is taken, will this court be able to proceed so far as the grant of compensation is concerned? Your prayers are for damages and class action. You can press only one of them. If you are asking us to direct the Central government to initiate a class action, then the quantum will be decided by the Consumer Court. In that light, how are you going to press for four times compensation?" the Bench remarked.It eventually declined to entertain the petition..The plea was filed through advocates Shourya Tiwari and Rupali Panwar..Indigo was represented by Sandeep Sethi, Senior Advocate along with Amar Gupta, Divyam Agarwal, Aniket Agarwal, Priya Chauhan, Anirudh Vats from JSA..[Read Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.