Bombay HC allows Akasa Air to proceed with case against pilots in Mumbai

The Bombay High Court (HC) on Wednesday allowed Akasa Air to proceed with its case seeking contractual damages from pilots who exited the company allegedly without serving a notice period, according to LiveLaw.

The Bombay HC also posted the matter for considering grant of relief to Akasa Air on October 4, 2023. The court had reserved the order on Tuesday. 

The airline's operator SNV Aviation Pvt Ltd, had approached the Bombay High Court against a few pilots who had abruptly quit their duties without serving the mandatory notice period as required by their contracts. The carrier's pilots are required to serve a notice period of six months (for first officers) or one year (for captains).

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Former Akasa Air pilots challenged the maintainability of lawsuits filed against them before the Bombay HC for not fulfilling their notice period requirements per their employment contract. Pilots have argued that since the contracts were not executed in Mumbai, the Bombay High Court was not the right court to proceed with the dispute.

Pilots argued that a suit in the HC is not maintainable since the contracts were neither performed nor executed in Mumbai.

However, Akasa has argued that its employment contract with the pilots grants exclusive jurisdiction to the Mumbai courts. In such a case, the Bombay High Court has the jurisdiction to move ahead with the suits.

Also Read: Bombay HC reserves order on plea maintainability in Akasa-pilot matter

On Wednesday, Justice SM Modak said that the actions rose within its jurisdiction as resignations were accepted by the company in Mumbai.

Akasa is seeking significant compensation, reaching crores of rupees, from pilots who left the airline before completing a mandatory notice period. It has cited "operational losses" and damage to the airline's reputation due to the flight cancellations resulting from their premature departures.