The Delhi High Court, last week, took a suo moto cognizance after observing the “stubborn reluctance” of passengers to wear mask in Kolkata-Delhi flight and directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to take few measures.
The DGCA issued a circular in furtherance of this suo moto action of Delhi HC and made it compulsory for the passengers to abide by COVID-19 rules.
Moreover, the air traveller controller stated that any passenger who refuses to put on a face mask or follow any of the COVID-19 protocols applicable in flights would be treated as an “unruly passenger.”
Unruly passenger has been defined in paragraph 3.1 of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) and if upon repeated warnings, passenger fails to comply with the protocol, such person would be de-boarded.
The bench highlighted the point of concern and stated that in a closed and fully air-conditioned environment, even if one person suffers from coronavirus, it can have cataclysmic effects. This can lead to irreparable damage is currently, India is witnessing resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
The bench also stated that such behaviour is completely unconscionable and it should be taken care of without any delay otherwise all the measures taken up in past would be of no use.
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