High Court slaps contempt notices on 9 striking union leaders

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) Contempt notices were Tuesday
slapped by the Delhi High Court on nine union leaders of
striking Air India (AI) pilots as the airline management
clamped the 'no work, no pay' rule even as fresh efforts were
made to end the week-long crisis.
As the stalemate continued, the management issued
directions for not processing the salaries of those who were
not joining duty as the airline operated only about 40 flights
on the seventh day of the strike, cancelling almost 90 per
cent of its 320 daily services.
Keeping open the window for talks, Indian Civil
Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi told reporters later in the
day, "Government is willing to settle the issue. ... I hope
wisdom will prevail on the pilots".
His statement came after a meeting with AI CMD Arvind
Jadhav, Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi and top officials
to discuss the overall situation following the High Court
proceedings. Ravi would meet top Ministry officials Wednesday
again to review the situation.
Directions were issued by the management to the
airline's accounts department not to process the April
salaries of pilots who have not reported back for duty,
despite the issuance of an ultimatum that expired last Friday.
But later in the day, the AI management appeared keen
to open a channel for talks with the pilots.
Sources said the management could reconsider the
termination and suspension orders if the agitators call off
their strike immediately. So far, seven pilots have been
sacked and six suspended.
For this, the sacked pilots would have to give an
undertaking which could be considered favourably by the
management which was sending feelers to the pilots so that the
issue could be resolved within two weeks.
They said the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee, set up
to consider all issues arising out of merger of the two former
state-run carriers, was considering the pilots' demand for
compensation of 75 'fixed flying hours allowance' along with
their 'lay over subsistence allowance'.
After day-long proceedings, the High Court slapped
contempt notices to nine office bearers of de-recognised
Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) for disobeying its
order to call off the strike, while deciding to take up the
matter again on May 25. It also rapped the management for
its adamant attitude and failure to resolve the crisis.
The two-judge bench appointed senior lawyer Siddharth
Luthra as amicus curaie to assist the court on legal issues.
"Status quo remains. The matter is sub-judice. We will
fight for our demands till the last and seek legal recourse.
We are absolutely united", Vikram Yadav, ICPA representative
said, adding that ICPA was "ready to sit for talks any time,
but the management should be ready too".
"We can sit across the table and resolve the issue in
five minutes, but similar should be the management's attitude
too", the ICPA representative said.
The ailing national carrier has blocked domestic
bookings for the past five days. Private carriers were
flying about 15,000-16,000 of passengers of AI, which is
offering only about 9,000 seats each day.
The pilots, who struck work from midnight last
Tuesday, have been demanding pay parity with their colleagues
of erstwhile Air India, better working conditions and Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's premier investigation
agency, inquiry into alleged withdrawal of flights from
profitable routes, aircraft purchase and other issues.
Of the total 1,200 pilots, over 800 belonging to the
erstwhile Indian Airlines have gone on strike. The remaining
400, mostly operating international flights, owe allegiance to
the Indian Pilots Guild.