Aishwarya Rathore-
Published on: August 18, 2021 12:45 IST
The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition filed by a Registered Pilot Vijaypat Singhania and businessman Vijay Sethi, seeking the Civil Aviation Ministry to approach the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to alter registration alphabets for all Indian Aircraft.
Singhania had questioned in his plea as to why after seven decades of the end of Colonial Rule, aircraft in India continue to use ‘VT’ (Victorian or Viceroy Territory) as their Country Code.
According to Global rules of ICAO, each aircraft must be registered in a Country where it is allotted a registration number consisting of one or two letters as the Country code.
The Plea states, “Central Government had tried to get the code changed several times in the past, and replace it with IN (India) or HI (Hindustan), but none of these words were available with the ICAO.”
The Bench stated that no evidence had been brought forth to establish that any of the petitioners’ fundamental rights were being infringed.
The Court stated that relief under the RTI Act might be sought to direct the Aviation Ministry to produce records of its attempts to alter the ‘VT’ registration so far, as well as its “plan of action” in coordination with ICAO to do so.
Accordingly, the petition was dismissed by the High Court.
