Air India to recalibrate plans on Turkish Technic's maintenance works for its wide-body planes
New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI): Air India will look to send its wide-body planes, whose heavy maintenance is being done by Turkish Technic, to other MRO entities, as part of recalibrating its plans taking into cognisance the recent developments related to Turkiye, according to the airline's CEO Campbell Wilson.
Against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country in May, aviation security watchdog BCAS, on May 15, revoked the security clearance for Turkish company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd in the "interest of national security".
On May 30, aviation safety regulator DGCA granted a one-time final extension of three months to IndiGo on damp leasing of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines till August 31 but directed the airline to terminate the lease within the three-month period.
When asked about some of Air India's wide-body aircraft being sent to Turkish Technic for maintenance works, the Air India CEO and MD said it is a global business and a global supply chain.
"It does take a while to adjust when the circumstances change around us but we are obviously sensitive to the national sentiment and perhaps the national wishes. So, regardless of which country we are talking about, we would clearly take cognisance of what people like us to do and expect us to do," he told PTI in an interview.
Heavy maintenance works of some of the airline's wide-body B777s and B787s are done by Turkiye-based Turkish Technic.
In the short-term, Wilson said the airline needs to send some aircraft for MRO works overseas to places in the Middle East, South East Asia, the US and in a couple of cases, business to Turkish Technic as it will take some time for India to have the capacity to do such works.
"With this most recent development, we will look to recalibrate where we sent our aircraft, reduce the amount that we are sending to Turkiye and send it to other places.
"But that does take some time because aircraft have to be maintained... we are cognisant of recent developments and we will look to adjust our plans," he said.
MRO refers to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul.
Currently, Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, including 64 wide-body aircraft.
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High courts upheld only 8 per cent of death sentences; SC confirms none in recent years: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Highlighting that a high acquittal rate of death row convicts by the Supreme Court and high courts demonstrates a pattern of "erroneous or unjustified convictions", a study of 10 years of death penalty data has revealed that the top court did not confirm any death sentences in recent years.
The study by Square Circle Clinic, a criminal laws advocacy group with the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, found that an overwhelming majority of death sentences imposed by trial courts did not withstand scrutiny at higher judicial levels. Acquittals far outnumbered confirmations at both the high courts and Supreme Court levels.
According to the report, the trial courts across India awarded 1,310 death sentences in 822 cases between 2016 and 2025. High courts considered 842 of these sentences in confirmation proceedings but upheld only 70 or 8.31 per cent.
In contrast, 258 death sentences (30.64 per cent) resulted in acquittals. The study noted that the acquittal rate at the high court level was nearly four times the confirmation rate.
Data showed that of the 70 death sentences confirmed by high courts, the Supreme Court decided 38 and did not uphold a single one. The apex court has confirmed no death sentences between 2023 and 2025.
"Wrongful or erroneous or unjustified convictions, then, are not random or freak accidents in the Indian criminal justice system. The data indicates they are a persistent and serious systemic concern," the report said.
Over the last decade, high courts adjudicated 1,085 death sentences in 647 cases, confirming only 106 (9.77 per cent). During this period, 326 persons in 191 cases, were acquitted.
The report attributed low confirmation rates to the appellate judiciary’s concerns regarding failures in due process. "This coincides with increased Supreme Court scrutiny of safeguards at the sentencing stage," the report said.
Of the 153 death sentences decided by the apex court over the last decade, the accused were acquitted in 38 cases. In 2025 alone, high courts overturned death sentences into acquittals in 22 out of 85 cases (over 25 per cent). The same year, Supreme Court acquitted accused persons in more than half of the death penalty cases it decided (10 out of 19), the report said.
The study highlighted that 364 persons who were ultimately acquitted "should not even have been convicted and unjustifiably suffered the trauma of death row". It added that such failures extend beyond adjudication and reflect serious lapses in investigation and prosecution.
The question of remedies for wrongful convictions remains pending before the Supreme Court. In September 2025, three persons acquitted by the apex court filed writ petitions seeking compensation from the state and argued that their wrongful convictions violated their fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
"In 2022, the Supreme Court crystallised a sentencing process in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh , and mandated all courts to follow those guidelines before imposing or confirming a death sentence," the report read.
In 2025, the apex court held in Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India that death penalty sentencing hearings form part of the right to a fair trial and stressed that capital punishment can be imposed only after a constitutionally compliant sentencing process.
"However, even at the high courts whether the process mandated under Manoj is being complied with is in doubt,” the report said.
