Delhi HC asks AI pilots to adequately compensate for illegal strike

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked the leaders of an Air India pilot union, to inform it by 5 August how they proposed to compensate the nation for the ''agony'' caused by their stir. The union went on strike in the month of April this year, in wilful disregard of multiple appeals and orders by the court which had asked it to resume duties instead.

A single-judge bench of the High Court had on 2 May initiated suo motu criminal contempt proceedings against the pilots for violating its order to resume duty on 27 April.

On Friday a bench of justices BD Ahmed and Veena Birbal questioned the bona fides of a written apology submitted by the accused, which the bench said, if accepted outright, would send a wrong message to society.

''We are sitting here as representatives of society. If we accept their apology, a wrong message will go out to the society,'' the bench said, refusing to accept the apology.

Air India counsel, Lalit Bhasin, argued that though Air India suffered a loss of Rs250 crore due to their strike action, its management has reached a settlement with them and asked the court to take a lenient view.

However, the court said it was not concerned with the settlement between the union (ICPA) and the AI management or the financial loss. It was more concerned with the agony suffered by the people of the nation instead, it added.