Mumbai: Air India now a fully private company; HC dismisses employees' petitions

The High Court has ruled that the petitions filed by Air India employees are not maintainable after the privatisation of the company. Air India Limited (AIL) no longer performs any public duty. In fact, the court, while rejecting the employees' petition, also made it clear that after privatisation, it is operating as a private company with a purely commercial purpose of making profit.

The above decision was given by a bench of Justices Shri Chandrashekhar and Manjusha Deshpande while dismissing three petitions filed by Air India employees through advocate Ashok Shetty in 2001. 

Although the facts presented and relief sought in each petition were different, all the petitions were related to Air India. Therefore, the court heard these petitions together. Initially, when these petitions were filed, it was clarified that they were maintainable. However, Air India was privatised while the petitions were pending.

The court, while denying relief to the employees, also clarified that relief cannot be sought against the company due to this changed situation.

All three petitions were maintainable at the time they were filed. However, this situation has changed after the privatization of Air India. The company no longer performs any public duty.

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Therefore, the court reiterated that this petition is no longer hearable. However, the court also clarified that the petitioners are free to pursue other options available in law and the time spent pursuing the petitions will be disregarded while pursuing these avenues.