Delhi HC Notices People Flouting Mask Protocols During Flight Issues Order To DGCA

The order came after Judge Harishakar saw passengers being lax about wearing masks on March 5th 2021 while traveling from Kolkata to Delhi on an Air India flight.

Representational Image

New Delhi: On Tuesday, a single-judge bench of Justice C Harishankar in the Delhi High Court issued an order for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) authorities to accord adequate publicity to its guidelines in order to ensure strict compliance.

The Judge also directed the DGCA to conduct a periodical review of the situation to ensure that no laxity creeps into the system. 

According to ANI, the judge stated "To the perception of the court, such a situation, in the present scenario, when the country is seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases after they had shown signs of ebbing, is completely unconscionable."

The order came after Judge Harishakar saw passengers being lax about wearing masks on March 5th 2021 while traveling from Kolkata to Delhi on an Air India flight.

He said in court according to ANI "It was noticed that, though all the passengers had worn masks, many passengers had worn the masks below their chin and were exhibiting a stubborn reluctance to wear their masks properly. This behaviour was seen not only in the bus transporting the passengers from the airport to the flight but also within the flight itself."

The court directed that DGCA, the ministry of civil aviation, and the ministry of home affairs, as well as all airlines operating in the domestic sector to take all steps in order to ensure that these guidelines are complied with and that in case the airlines repeatedly fail to ensure compliance with the said guidelines, penal action will be initiated in accordance with the law. 

The court was quoted as saying, "it is the duty of each of us to contribute towards this end. Pointing fingers at the central and state governments, who have formidable tasks to deal with, and are doing all they can, is of no use whatsoever. Each of us, as members of a conscious and conscientious citizenry, is required to be sensitive and sensitized in equal measure, and to strain every sinew to keep the pandemic at bay. If the citizenry becomes complacent, no government, howsoever activated and alive to the situation, can help."