The Delhi High Court’s Chief Justice Bench on Wednesday took strong exception to the massive disruptions in IndiGo’s flight operations over the past week, which triggered widespread cancellations, delays, and left thousands of passengers including children and elderly travellers stranded across airports in the country. Observing that passengers were left unattended, the Court described the situation as a matter of serious public concern resulting in severe inconvenience, health risks, and even unreasonable fare surges by other airlines.

Though the Bench criticised the PIL for being inadequately drafted and lacking supporting material, it decided to take cognisance given the scale of the crisis. Appearing for the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA, ASG Chetan Sharma submitted that the disruption stemmed from IndiGo’s non-compliance with Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) 2024, inadequate pilot strength, deficiencies in crew-rostering software, and shortcomings in operational planning. Several FDTL provisions including those relating to night landings and pilot rest norms were to be implemented in phases from July and November 2025, and authorities had been monitoring ongoing compliance, he added.

The Bench also recorded that DGCA has already taken regulatory steps, including temporary relaxations to stabilise operations, issuance of a show-cause notice to IndiGo, and constitution of a high-level committee on 5 December 2025 to examine the causes of the disruption, oversight failures, manpower issues, and other compliance gaps. The Court further referred to Schedule 6B of the Aircraft Rules, noting that the severity of any contravention may attract graded penalties.

Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for IndiGo, submitted that the crisis was not solely due to flight rostering and involved multiple contributing factors. Emphasising that IndiGo has maintained an exemplary operational record for nearly two decades, he urged the Court not to make adverse findings at this stage and assured full cooperation with the inquiry committee.

The Bench made it clear that they are not passing any direction against Indigo. The Bench also noted that pending the inquiry, IndiGo should comply with the 2010 DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements on compensation for denied boarding, flight cancellations and delays. The Court stressed that compensation obligations are mandatory and that passengers who suffered hardship must be remedied without delay. It also clarified that no final conclusions are being drawn against IndiGo and that the Government and DGCA must conduct their inquiry independently.

The matter will be heard next on January 22, 2026, when the fact-finding committee’s report is expected to be placed before the Court in a sealed cover along with replies from all respondents.

Appearances:

For Petitioner: Akhil Rana (in person)

For Union of India & DGCA: ASG Chetan Sharma with Ms. Anjana Gossain

For IndiGo: Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, instructed by JSA (Amar Gupta, Divyam Agarwal, Pallavi Kumar, Aniket Aggarwal, Priya Chauhan, Anirudh Vats)