Flight landed with 1-2 mins of holding fuel:Delhi police officer; IndiGo says plane had enough fuel
New Delhi (PTI): An IndiGo flight from Ayodhya to the national capital was diverted due to bad weather to Chandigarh where it landed with just 1 or 2 minutes of fuel left on Saturday, a Delhi police officer has said even as the airline on Monday asserted that the aircraft had sufficient fuel.
In a post on X, Satish Kumar, who is DCP Crime with the Delhi Police, said he had a harrowing experience with IndiGo flight 6E 2702 from Ayodhya to Delhi.
He said the flight's scheduled departure time was 3:25 pm and scheduled arrival time was 4:30 pm but at around 4:15 pm, the pilot announced that there was bad weather at the Delhi airport and that the plane had 45 minutes of holding fuel.
"The pilot attempted landing twice, couldn't due to bad weather and still wasted lot of time deciding the next course of action.
"At 5:30 p.m. (after a lapse of 75 minutes since the Holding fuel announcement) the pilot announced that he'll finally attempt landing at Chandigarh... finally the plane managed to land at 6:10 p.m. at Chandigarh Airport after a lapse of 115 minutes since the 45 minutes holding fuel announcement," Kumar said in the post on Sunday evening.
Kumar also said that he got to know after landing from the crew that there was only 1 or 2 minutes of fuel left.
In the post tagging regulator DGCA, the civil aviation ministry, Delhi airport and IndiGo, he also said that it should be enquired if "all SOPs were followed or was it the narrowest escape?".
IndiGo, in a statement on Monday, said the flight was diverted to Chandigarh due to bad weather in Delhi and that the captain executed a go-around which is in line with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
"This is an absolutely safe maneuver. The aircraft had sufficient fuel at all times to divert to an alternate airport, as per regulations," the airline said and regretted any inconvenience that may have been caused due to factors beyond its control.
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SC stays CBI probe into West Bengal govt officials' role in teacher recruitment scam
New Delhi, Apr 29: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Calcutta High Court order directing the CBI to probe the role of West Bengal government officials in a teacher recruitment scam. It, however, refused to stay for now the cancellation of the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff.
The top court was hearing a plea by the West Bengal government against a high court order invalidating the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the School Service Commission (SSC) in state-run and state-aided schools.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, however, refused to stay the high court order cancelling the appointments and said it will hear the matter on May 6.
Observing that taking away the jobs of about 25,000 persons is a serious matter, the top court asked if it is possible to segregate the valid and invalid appointments on the basis of the material available and who the beneficiaries of the fraud are.
"We will stay the direction which says the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government," the bench said.
Calcutta High Court had said the CBI would undertake further investigations with regard to the persons in the state government involved in approving the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments.
If necessary, the CBI will undertake custodial interrogation of such persons involved, it had said.
Challenging the order, the state government, in its appeal filed before the top court, said the high court cancelled the appointments "arbitrarily".
"The high court failed to appreciate the ramification of cancelling the entire selection process, leading to straightaway termination of teaching and non-teaching staff from service with immediate effect, without giving sufficient time to the petitioner state to deal with such an exigency, rendering the education system at a standstill," the plea said.
Calcutta High Court last week declared the selection process as "null and void" and directed the CBI to probe the appointment process. It also asked the central agency to submit a report within three months.
"All appointments granted in the selection processes involved being violative of articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, are declared null and void and cancelled," the high court said in its April 22 order.
The high court said those appointed outside the officially available 24,640 vacancies, appointed after the expiry of the official date of recruitment, and those who submitted blank Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets but obtained appointment to return all remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent interest per annum within four weeks.
Observing that it had given "anxious consideration to the passionate plea" that persons who obtained the appointments legally would be prejudiced if the entire selection process was cancelled, the bench said it hardly had any choice left.
The high court held that all appointments involved were violative of articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (prohibiting discrimination in employment in any government office) of the Constitution.
"It is shocking that, at the level of the cabinet of the state government, a decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for state-funded schools, knowing fully well that, such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum," the high court had said.
It said unless "there is a deep connection between the persons perpetuating the fraud and the beneficiaries" with persons involved in the decision-making process, such action to create supernumerary posts to protect illegal appointments is "inconceivable".
The division bench had also rejected a prayer by some appellants, including the SSC, for a stay on the order and asked the commission to initiate a fresh appointment process within a fortnight from the date of the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The bench, constituted by the high court chief justice on a direction of the Supreme Court, had heard 350 petitions and appeals relating to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group-C and D staffers through the SLST-2016.
In its 282-page judgment, the high court had said retaining appointees selected through "such a dubious process" would be contrary to public interest.
