LAKHBIR SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner seeks for quashing of the orders passed by the respondents denying for grant of Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and for a direction to the respondents 1 and 2 namely the Ministry of Civil Aviation to indicate additional flying training, if any, required to be undergone for the purpose of grant of CPL as a measure of parity with other persons, who have been similarly granted such licences.

(2.) The contention of the petitioner was that the CPL was denied to the petitioner only on the ground that his Air Navigation and Air Regulation papers had lapsed by 10 months and 14 days and that the Director General of Civil Aviation-2nd respondent, had no power to extend the validity of the papers beyond a period of six months under the relevant rules. This self-imposed restriction to his power by the 2nd respondent was cited by the petitioner as discriminatory, by referring to another case of a person Shri Sandeep Suri applying for CPL where his flying training had been extended by 281 days. As an extreme illustration, the petitioner would also contend that if the application of Shri Sandeep Suri was to be considered as having been filed in the year 2003, then his knowledge paper had lapsed by 2 years and 7 days and flying training had lapsed by more than 1000 days. The petitioner would point out that delay was occasioned by willful and mala fide conduct of respondents 4, 5 and 6 in delaying the flying training of the petitioner and borne through the records.

(3.) The procedure for obtaining CPL would require to be examined to come to the grips of the problems relating to this case. The Air Craft Rules of 1937 prescribes through Section J of Schedule-II, the following requirements: