DGCA seeks report from Air India on Indian cricket team's charter flight
New Delhi, Jul 3: Aviation regulator DGCA has sought a report from Air India on reports that an aircraft that was to operate a scheduled flight has been deployed for flying out the Indian cricket team from Barbados, according to officials.
There have been reports that Air India deployed the aircraft to Barbados that was originally scheduled to operate a scheduled flight from Newark to Delhi, causing difficulties for passengers.
Against this backdrop, a senior official on Wednesday said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has called for a report from Air India.
The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team is expected to arrive in the national capital on Thursday morning. They are coming from Barbados' Grantley Adams International Airport in a chartered flight which has a special call sign - AIC24WC - Air India Champions 24 World Cup.
An Air India official said passengers were not inconvenienced by the deployment of the Boeing 777 aircraft to Barbados.
Most of the passengers who had booked tickets for the Newark to Delhi flight on July 2 were informed in advance. However, some passengers who could not be informed about the flight cancellation turned up at the airport and they were taken by road to New York. Those passengers were accommodated in the flight from New York to Delhi, the official added.
The departure of the cricket team was delayed due to Hurricane Beryl and the chartered flight was arranged by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
