‘Direct link to passenger safety’: Delhi High Court asks for DGCA’s response on revised norms for pilot rest
Petitioners have objected to the relaxation of the weekly rest clause stipulated in the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations norms issued by DGCA in an order on December 5, 2025.
Highlighting that the relaxation has “increased accident risk, pilot fatigue exposure”, the petitioners have also objected to Indigo and other airlines marketing themselves as “low cost airline”.
The Delhi High Court Wednesday, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation raising concerns on the “illegal dilution of fatigue norms” for airlines’ pilots, told the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take instructions on the issue and report back to the court Thursday, even as IndiGo questioned the maintainability of the PIL.
In their PIL, Sabari Roy Lenka, a former aircraft engineer, Aman Monga, a crew resource management trainer, and Kiran Singh, a social worker, have objected to the relaxation of the weekly rest clause as stipulated under the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, by way of a DGCA order on December 5, 2025.
The relaxation came following en masse IndiGo flight cancellations and delays, leading to a collapse and chaos in the aviation sector.
Highlighting that the relaxation has “increased accident risk, pilot fatigue exposure”, the petitioners have also objected to Indigo and other airlines marketing themselves as “low cost airline”.
The petitioners seek that DGCA’s December order be quashed and set aside, and that all scheduled airlines operating in India be immediately restrained from describing, projecting, or advertising themselves as “low cost airlines” on their websites, booking portals, etc., as there is no such statutory recognition under the laws and rules.
IndiGo, which is the only airline made a party to the litigation, represented by Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, raised an objection to the maintainability of the petition, questioning the petitioners’ locus. “How are they concerned? They are not a pilot.”
‘New regulations are not being practically followed’
While the bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia orally observed that the DGCA order only allowed for deferment of implementing the FDTL norms in toto in the back of the IndiGo crisis, CJ Upadhyaya, addressing IndiGo’s counsel, orally remarked, “We cannot straightaway rule out his standing. Petitioner 1 has been an aircraft engineer”.
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“The regulator has prescribed a certain period of rest for the pilots. This has a direct link to passenger safety. So, the concern cannot be ruled out altogether. If the regulator has provided some regulations, unless they are challenged or there is an inherent flaw, it needs to enforce them. The new regulations are not being practically followed… So concerns expressed in the petition cannot be brushed aside.”
“The petition points out public safety in general, so we can’t say that the petition can’t be maintained. It is only that at the moment, there must be some rationale available with DGCA (for putting the norms in abeyance),” CJ Upadhyaya added orally.
The new FDTL rules were implemented in two phases to better manage pilot fatigue, a key risk to aviation safety. Under the new rules, the weekly rest period for pilots was increased to 48 hours from 36, and night landings were limited to two from six earlier.
The night-duty-related changes took effect on November 1, 2025, and began affecting IndiGo’s flight operations, as the airline operates a significant number of night-time flights and relies on high utilisation rates for aircraft and crew.
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The exemptions granted to IndiGo include that the airline’s definition of “night” will be midnight to 5 am, instead of midnight to 6 am, as prescribed in the new FDTL rules. The exemptions also allow IndiGo pilots flying during these hours to perform up to six landings, whereas the new norms capped night landings at just two.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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