Delhi HC issues notice to Delhi Police in anticipatory bail plea by Air India pilot

The Delhi High Court has today issued notice to the Delhi Police in a plea for anticipatory bail moved by the Air India pilot who evaded the mandatory pre-flight breath analyser test for a Delhi to Bangalore flight in January 2017..Captain Arvind Kathpalia is also alleged to have skipped the test while piloting the aircraft back to Delhi..The matter was listed for hearing before a Single Judge Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta. .Kathpalia, a senior pilot and Director (Operations) with Air India, is facing prosecution under Sections 201, 204, 465, 471, 506, 202, 217, 279, 280 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 11 of the Aircraft Act, 1934, after a complaint was filed by the Indian Commercial Pilots Association..Section 11 of the Aircraft Act deals with the penalty for flying any aircraft in such a manner as to cause danger to any person or to any property on land, water, or in the air..After a departmental inquiry, Kathpalia’s license was suspended for three months by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)..The anticipatory bail application filed in the High Court through Advocate Abhimanyu Kampani claims that Kathpalia is entitled to a presumption of innocence. It is further claimed that the complainant Association is pursuing its “personal vendetta” and is “being vindictive” against Kathpalia by “putting undue pressure on the police to arrest and humiliate” him..Kathpalia has approached the High Court after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora earlier this month..Dismissing the bail plea, Judge Arora had observed that “the allegations made were serious in nature” as the person who was responsible for enforcing compliance of Civil Aviation Requirement Rules by all, made a breach by his conduct and thus put in peril the flight safety and also the safety of passengers..The trial court’s order also records that “the accused appears to have not mended his ways” as he has been found to have failed a pre-flight Breath Analyser Test, which resulted in a three-year suspension..As per reports, Kathpalia was found “too drunk to fly” before piloting flight AI 111 to London from Delhi last month. In the mandatory pre-flight breathalyser test, Kathpalia’s Blood Alcohol Content was recorded at 0.07 per cent. Indian laws enforce a zero-tolerance policy in this regard, and a BAC reading of as low as 0.01 per cent makes a pilot legally unfit to fly. Therefore, a 12-hour “dry” period between a pilot’s last drink and his stepping into the cockpit is mandated..Another pilot had to be called to replace Kathpalia at the last moment. The incident attracted a lot of media attention for causing inconvenience to passengers. The flight finally took off after a delay of almost an hour..Subsequently, the DGCA suspended Kathpalia’s license for three years, and the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation also relieved him of his duty as Director (Operations) of Air India..Kathpalia was represented in the Delhi High Court by Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta. Additional Public Prosecutor Rajni Gupta appeared for the State, while Advocate Adit S Pujari appeared for the complainant, Indian Commercial Pilots Association..The matter will next be heard on December 20..Read the Trial Court’s orders below: