The Delhi High Court has ordered Airlines Allied Services Ltd., a subsidiary of Air India, to reinstate a flight attendant whose contract was terminated when she was on a 18-month-long sick leave.
A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sunil Gaur directed Airlines Allied to reinstate the woman within four weeks, saying that its refusal to renew her contract "clearly amounts to hostile and discriminatory treatment".
The woman's lawyer, Ashwarya Sinha, argued before the bench that her client was advised 18 months' rest as she was suffering from tuberculosis of the back.
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The advocate had also told the court that her client, Chitra Sharma, was not informed about the expiry of her contract while she was on sick leave.
The woman had challenged the airline's decision before a single judge of the high court who upheld her termination.
Setting aside the single judge's order, the division bench said that the airline being a state agency was bound "to reasonably accommodate" her and "ensure that her contract was renewed, without the period of her illness coming in the way of consideration of her case".
"Its refusal to do so clearly amounts to hostile and discriminatory treatment, not justified by the reasons given to the court. It also amounts to an indirect method to get rid of older employees, perhaps to prefer younger personnel," the bench also said in its 24-page judgement.
The court said that the airline's refusal to renew her contract has resulted in her being discriminated against for falling ill.
"The denial of renewal of fresh term to the appellant despite her being declared fit to fly is, therefore, held to be arbitrary. The respondent airline is, therefore, directed to renew the contract, in the usual terms, as is done in the case of the others, with the appellant (Sharma) within four weeks from today," the bench said in its October 30 decision which was made available today.
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