Court unhappy with probe into allegations against AI pilot

Status report does not answer relevant questions, says HC

January 23, 2019 01:27 am | Updated 01:27 am IST - New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Delhi police to file a detailed report after conducting a proper investigation in a case against Air India pilot Arvind Kathpalia, accused of violating aircraft rules.

Justice Mukta Gupta said the status report, filed by the police, did “not answer relevant questions”. The court also extended the interim protection to Mr. Kathpalia against any coercive police action till March 28, the next date of hearing. Mr. Kathpalia was removed as Director of Operations in November 2018, after failing to clear the pre-flight alcohol test.

The court was hearing the anticipatory bail petition of the pilot who has been apprehending arrest in the case, filed on the direction of a lower court, in which he is also accused of tampering with evidence, criminal conspiracy and intimidating a doctor working with the airline in January 2017.

Lack of time

The court observed that merely because the pilot did not take the pre-flight alcohol test, it could not be presumed that he was drunk.

Mr. Kathpalia had said he was in a hurry to take the flight and for lack of time, he could not undergo the pre-flight breath analyser test.

He voluntarily went for the post-flight breath analyser test after returning from Bengaluru, but the doctor on duty refused to administer the test and asked him to sign on a register.

Earlier, the High Court issued notice to the police and said the pilot’s actions could not be called a mistake as they put at risk the lives of many.

The police had said Mr. Kathpalia operated a flight from New Delhi to Bengaluru without undergoing the mandatory pre-flight breath analyser test on January 19, 2017. Even at Bengaluru, he refused to undergo the test. On his arrival in New Delhi, he went to the pre-flight medical examination room and made a false entry in the pre-flight breath analyser examination register for the flight he had operated.

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