Delhi HC grants interim protection to Air India pilot who evaded pre-flight breath analyser test

The Delhi High Court today granted interim protection from arrest to the Air India pilot who evaded the mandatory pre-flight breath analyser test, subject to his joining the investigation..Captain Arvind Kathpalia found himself in the dock test for failing to take the test for a Delhi to Bangalore flight in January 2017, and is also alleged to have skipped the test while piloting the aircraft back to Delhi..Justice Mukta Gupta, who was hearing his plea for anticipatory bail, asked Kathpalia to participate in the investigation and directed the Delhi Police to file a status report..“Petitioner to join investigation…No coercive action subject to him joining the investigation”, the Court ordered..The direction came after Kathpalia, who was present in person, informed the Court that since the FIR was registered in August 2018, he has not been asked to join the investigation, and thus his version has not come on record..Kathapalia stated that it cannot be presumed that just because he missed the test, he was intoxicated. He claimed that he was at work the whole day and could not take the test because he was late..He further stated that he voluntarily went for the post-flight breath analyser test after returning from Bangalore, in good faith. The doctor on duty refused to administer the test and only asked him to sign in a register, he added..Asked if there was any positive evidence to assert that Kathpalia evaded the test before piloting the flight to Bangalore because he was intoxicated, the Delhi Police answered in negative..“Then it is all a presumption. Prosecution should have a positive evidence (to support their conclusion)”, Justice Gupta remarked..The Court also allowed the Indian Commercial Pilots Association to be impleaded as a party to the proceedings..Kathpalia, a senior pilot and former 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 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 the complainant association is “being vindictive” against Kathpalia by “putting undue pressure on the police to arrest and humiliate him”..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 Indian Commercial Pilots Association..He had approached the High Court after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora earlier this month..The matter will next be heard on January 22.