Delhi High Court Issued A Notice To The DGCA
Delhi High Court issued a notice to the DGCA and sought its response, On the petition of the Indian Pilots Guild.
The Delhi High Court declined to entertain a plea seeking interim relief against the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) order to test aviation personnel for the use of psychoactive substances.
A bench of Justice V Kameswara Rao issued notice on the plea of the Indian Pilots Guild against the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) and directed the DGCA to file its reply.
The bench said that no interim relief can be granted at this stage, as no one has been tested. The next hearing in the matter will be held on March 28.
Delhi High Court issued a notice to the DGCA: The petitioner argued that there are lapses in the testing process.
According to the petition, no limit has been specified to specify the allowable consumption from the aviation regulator for the substances listed in the CAR.
Senior advocate Vivek Kohli, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the results are surprising and there is no testing methodology.
It has been argued in the petition that the trial is arbitrary, unconstitutional, and violative of the principles of natural justice.
On being asked by the bench, the advocate said that this order has been implemented on January 31. However, so far it has not been used under CAR.
However, DGCA’s advocate Anjana Gosai, opposing the interim relief in the matter, argued that the CAR was introduced after consultation with stakeholders at par with global standards for testing of pilots.
He said that complete confidentiality would be maintained in the testing process to be carried out by the NABL approved laboratory.
If someone is found positive for the first time then it will not be considered an offense at all.
