Air India defends free tickets for its former CMD, plans for more

Y P RAJESHPosted online: Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 0039 hrs Print  EmailNACIL says report on Thulasidas freebies inaccurate; ducks AI rules and HC order

Mumbai, May 28: A day after The Indian Express reported that the previous chairman of the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) was getting free tickets even after his retirement despite not being eligible for it and also being barred by the Delhi High Court, the public sector firm contested the report as inaccurate. At the same time, it set in motion moves to allow more such free tickets.

According to the agenda paper for NACIL' s board meeting tomorrow, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, post-retirement passages to part-time chairmen/MDs of erstwhile Indian Airlines Ltd is listed as Item Number 28. However, Air India' s spokesman denied this was being taken up for discussion in the board meeting tomorrow.

Sources said this proposal is a first step to expand the benefit of free tickets to officers from the IAS, IPS, IRS and other services who are deputed to NACIL as they are not eligible now unless specified in their appointment orders. It may not be taken up or had been withdrawn following The Indian Express report, they said.

The subject of free tickets has been fiercely contested in the two airlines before they were merged into NACIL. While certain categories of permanent employees of the airline are eligible for such tickets, the Central government as well as the Delhi High Court order opposed this post-retirement perk to officials on deputation from other services.

The Indian Express on Tuesday said that NACIL chairman and managing director V. Thulasidas and his wife flew free 18 times after Thulasidas retired on March 31 in violation of norms and the court order. NACIL spokesman Jitender Bhargava, in a letter to The Indian Express, however said the report was based entirely on inaccurate and misplaced information and was devoid of facts.

The report said that Thulasidas was not eligible for free tickets as it was not mentioned in his appointment letter. However, Air India letter quoted a paragraph from Thulasidas' s appointment letter which said the IAS officer would be governed by existing rules, regulations and orders of the borrowing organization in all matters relating to benefits and perks not expressly mentioned in the appointment letter. Thus, the free tickets were not a violation of his appointment rules, the letter contended.

But rules in Air India for its own employees are clear. Only some senior categories of employees who have worked continuously for 20 years are eligible for free tickets post retirement. Thulasidas was on deputation from 2003 to 2008.

Further, the Air India letter quoted Ministry of Civil Aviation directives of 1996 and 1997 which said post-retirement free tickets may be allowed for managing directors even if they were appointed in acting capacity but had served for three continuous years. This could also be given to managing directors on deputation if their appointment terms allowed it.

While this was clearly struck down by the Delhi High Court order of 2006, the fact that Air India’s board meeting agenda for Thursday listed the same subject contradicts its position.

The Air India letter also argued that the court judgment did not apply to Thulasidas as his terms of appointment were different from those of P C Sen, another IAS officer who was chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines and Air India between 1994 and 1998, and had gone to the court challenging the government move to not extend free tickets to officers deputed to the two airlines.

But Justice Ravindra Bhat' s ruling is unambiguous. The terms of IAS officers do not admit of free air passage, after repatriation/resignation/retirement,  he said in his order. Although Sen had argued that some of his predecessors had got such free tickets as it was mentioned in their appointment orders, Bhat had said I am of the opinion that consistent with the position in law that such deputationists cannot claim rights over service conditions which are not primarily applicable to them and also consistent with the policy and guidelines of the Central Government that the conditions primarily applicable to the substantive service of such employees would prevail, appropriate directions are called for to ensure that henceforth, such benefits are not extended.

A deputationist is always an employee of the substantive employer; his terms and conditions of deputation are settled by the lending organization/substantive employer, he said. Therefore, I am of the opinion that a deputationist like the petitioner, who continues to hold lien in a parent organization, and secure all benefits of employment there, cannot be considered as being in continuous employment for three years or more to qualify for the air passage facility even after his deputation period ends.

Source: india-newsbehindnews.com