Justice Ashok Bhushan led bench to resume hearing the plea seeking refund of air tickets for travel that could not happen during lockdown. @DGCAIndia has stated that passengers are entitled to refund
However, @DGCAIndia has clarified that any refund or credit shells valid for air tickets till March next year is applicable for the passengers & not the travel agents. Further any refund is only for flights originating in India and not for the ones abroad, even if Indian carriers
The intervenors had posed a question that if a person especially elderly does not want to travel even after March 2021, then in that case an option of immediate refund has to be given and no credit shell. Senior Adv Aryama Sundaram too had supported this. Court to hear today
Hearing begins:
SC asks SG Tushar Mehta what clarification is given in the affidavit.
Mehta explains that the query raised earlier was pertaining to travel agents and the credit shell to be given.
Mehta: So far as travel agents are concerned, we cannot regulate them we don't have control over it.
But suggestion is that a passenger can use the credit shell only through the agent.
Justice Reddy: If the voucher (credit shell) is not used till the deadline, will the money go to the account of the agent?
Mehta explains: There are travel agents, we don't know them or recognise them since there are no registrations.
If I'm an agent, I buy tickets in blocks and that is the contract between the agent and airline, DGCA has nothing to do with it.
Mehta: Once the ticket is allotted, then the passenger's name is reflected in the passenger manifest. Till such allotment, these remain as "floating tickets".
We cannot control the inter se contractual obligations between agents and passengers.
Senior Counsel Pallav Shishodia for the applicant (travel agents): The passengers have paid the money not to the airline, but to agents.
There are many cases where we have paid in advance to the airline to book tickets.
Shishodia: Insolvency of airline cannot be saved at the expense of our insolvency.
SC: Your interest is protected because if the voucher is not used then the money will be deposited in your account.
Shishodia: But for that we will have to wait till March 2021
Justice Shah: When SG is saying that passengers may surender voucher before agents tochet refund and agents can use that voucher, then what is the problem?
Shishodia highlights that the modalities for that are not in place.
SC: We will consider that.
Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi for @IndiGo6E: If my credit shell remains till March 2021, I have no difficulty. We can work with this
Justice Shah: Your only concern is you don't have to part with money.
Senior Advocate Pinaki Misra for @airasia and @airvistara: There is an impression being given that the money retained by the Airlines is parked by me in some Bank, that is not true.
It is said that we would have to pay interest on this.
(Misra explains the expenses incurred)
Misra: The rate of interest for FD is much else and we would be asked to pay 9% which is penal interest.
SC: It is not penal interest.
Misra: It becomes a penalty when the rate is so high.
(SC says it will consider it)
Advocate Harshavardhan Bhende for petitioner: To say that the travel agents are not recognised is a sad thing to say because when the passenger manifest is prepared it is done with communication with the travel agents.
Advocate Puneet Jain for an intervenor raises the grievance about making bookings on an international carrier which starts from outside India.
Mehta explains that if the booking is made from India then they have jurisdiction over it and it will be taken care of
Sr. Adv Sanjay Hegde explains: Suppose bookings are made on Indian carriers but from a Gulf country, then the CAR says that they exercise some jurisdiction.
SC: Your concern is that if booking is made form Air India office in New York then you are not covered?
Hedge: Yes
Sr. Adv. Arvind Datar for @goairlinesindia highlights the issues affecting Airlines: My working capital has been frozen.
(Datar explains the expenses that Airlines have to incur and juxtaposes the same against cap that is imposed on ticket prices and frozen working capital)
SC: But that is your Airline's problem, how can you hold up passenger's money?
(Datar points out that there are other Airlines too in need of more time to make the refunds)
SC: If you need more time then you need to approach the government
(Datar has been logged out if the VC hearing. Senior Counsel Aryama Sundaram makes submissions for petitioners in the meantime)
Sundaram: Mr. Datar's client may have problems but we have the right to get our money back.
Datar: We are not saying we won't refund but March 31 is an unrealistic deadline. We are only seeking some relaxation.
SC: The scope of the writ petition is not to give direction to the govt to give relaxation
Datar: Credit shell and who will it go to, travel agent or passengers, is all now being judicially decided so that is why we are only requesting Court's indulgence.
31st March is unrealistic. We are requesting to make it 1 year more or at least six months more.
Datar: ₹300 crore liability. Already refunded ₹40 Crores. From 100% flights I'm at 60% flights in operation as in September.
(Datar requests for credit shell to be transferable)
SC: That is what SG said.
Datar: it's a wonderful suggestion
Advocate Kunal Cheema for intervenors Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Parishad makes brief submissions.
Shishodia: WRT what Mr.Rohatgi said, @IndiGo6E is doing what we had suggested and Mr. Datar had also suggested source to source refund and that will make things easy.
#SupremeCourt to shortly deliver judgment on this significant issue
The court to hand down verdict in the suo motu case concerning visually impaired in judicial services
The genesis of the case lies in the rules governing judicial appointments in Madhya Pradesh which contained discriminatory language that prevented blind individuals from becoming judges.
This exclusion was challenged after a mother, whose visually impaired child aspired to the judiciary, wrote to the court, leading to a court-initiated public interest litigation.
Justice R Mahadevan: we have treated it as the most important case. We have touched upon constitutional framework also and institutional disability jurisprudence...
#SupremeCourt to shortly hear plea by Ranveer Allahabadia and Ashish Chanchlani in the case over remarks made in #indiasgotlatent show
Allahabadia and Chanchlani were protected from arrest in the last hearing
@BeerBicepsGuy
Dr Abhinav Chandrachud: We have moved an application. We are seeking lifting of one part of the order which refrained him from airing his shows etc. He has no sense of humour at all.. but he has 280 employees and it is his livelihood. It can be ordered that let no profane words be uttered.
SG: this is an isolated case. It is not vulgar but it is perverse. I saw the show also out of curiosity.. humour is one thing, vulgarity is one thing, and perversity is another level. Leave alone man and woman.. me and AG cannot see it together. The judges cannot see it together. Let him stay quiet for sometime .. Assam called him. He did not come.
Supreme Court to hear plea by Ranveer Allahabadia challenging multiple FIRs filed against him after he made certain remarks on India's Got Latent show
@BeerBicepsGuy #SupremeCourt #Indiasgotlatent
Dr Abhinav Chandrachud: Petitioner has got death threats.. 5 lakh reward for cutting his tongue. Former wrestler says he should not be spared in any party we meet him. All for a 10 second clip.
Are you defending the language used: Justice Surya Kant
Dr Chandrachud: As an officer of the court I am disgusted at the language used.
SC: so what are the parameters of obscenity and vulgarity. In the society which has some self evolved values and when we behave within those parameters we want to know what are the parameters of Indian society According to the petitioner.
Supreme Court hears the plea by Association of Democratic Reforms
CJI Sanjiv Khanna: what is this for ?
Adv Prashant Bhushan: we are Seeking that the procedure which ECI needs to adopt as per supreme Court judgment is in consonance with their standard operating protocol. What we want is that somebody should examine the software and the hardware of the EVMs in order to see if the software and hardware has any element of manipulation or not
CJI: Once votes are counted the paper trails are taken out or it's still there
Bhushan: they should maintain the paper trail
Sr Adv Devadatta Kamath: I appear for Sarva mitter. The entire data was wiped out. the evms on which polling was done should be tested.
CJI: to be done within seven days.. and the machine could be as per candidate choice and the burnt memory could be checked and verified.
Sr Adv Kamath: dummy units are checked not real ones. Here a fresh poll is being conducted and 40,000 being spent for verifying and checking each machine and the payment is to be by the candidate and then it's just a mock poll!
Supreme Court hears PIL by National Federation of Indian Women over the alleged increase in cases of Lynching and MobViolence, particularly by 'CowVigilantes'
Justice BR Gavai: Issue has already concluded. Can we revive that by way of another writ
Adv Nizamuddin Pasha: But the issue is when private individuals are given police powers to seize vehicles and nab people for cattle smuggling.. this is how police powers are given to private agencies. Attitude of state machinery needs to be looked at and see how brazen it is.. some kind of oversight from this court will help
Justice Gavai: You can challenge those notifications before the court
Pasha: It exists across states and is across spectrum
SG Tushar Mehta: I appear for the Union. If such things are happening it can be challenged
Pasha: 13 states follow this rule
Justice Gavai: is there are a direction in this case by us to all states .
SG: On Nov 6,2024, 6 states as selected by petitioner were asked to respond.
Pasha: and thereafter all states and UTs were made a part. Oct 28,2023, was the plea to implead all States and UTs . They have replied also
Should former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain granted interim bail in a case related to Delhi riots so that he may campaign for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls as an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate?
#SupremeCourt to hear @AamAadmiParty @aimim_national
The case comes to a three-judge bench after Justice Pankaj Mithal ruled that bail should be denied and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah stated that bail should be granted #TahirHussain #DelhiElection2025
Hearing to commence at 10:30 am #SupremeCourtofIndia