Supreme Court asks Cente to clarify over full refund of air ticket

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan referred to a recent affidavit filed before it by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) saying that ticket booked for travel during the lockdown period will be refunded.

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, senior lawyer for the Central government, today told the court that the Centre has proposed a solution, subject to the court's approval.

Senior Advocate, Aryama Sundaram, appearing for Air Passengers Association of India, submitted to the top court that the petitioner is largely agreeable with the proposal of the Ministry of Civil Aviation except for one or two things.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, for another petitioner, said that the proposal of the Centre is only confined to tickets booked during the lockdown. Refund should be given to all cancellations due to lockdown, irrespective of when tickets were booked.

After the hearing, the Supreme Court granted time to airline operators and all other parties and stakeholders, including the Central government, to file their affidavits.

The Apex Court asked the Centre also file an additional affidavit with clarifications, and fixed the matter for further hearing till September 23, Wednesday.

SG Mehta, said that there are three categories we have earmarked. First, the domestic flights, secondly, the international flights by Indian carriers, and lastly, the International flights by foreign carriers for which tickets were booked in India.

Justice Bhushan asked him, whether cancellation of tickets for travel during lockdown which were booked before lockdown are also taken care of.

Senior advocate, Harish Salve, appearing for Spicejet, submitted to the Top Court that his client is happy with the formulation of the Central Government.

Arvind Datar, lawyer appearing for GoAir submitted that his clients have some points of objection.

Senior lawyer and former Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi, for Indigo, submitted to the Top Court that he needs to file a reply to the Centre's affidavit.

Pinaki Mishra, for Air Vistara & Air Asia also sought time for reply in the case.

Liz Mathew, lawyer for one of the petitioners submitted that her client had booked tickets in December 2019 for travel during the period for which lockdown was imposed later. She seeks a clarification that such cases will also get the benefit of refund.