IndiGo scandal: SC urges petitioner to contact Delhi High Court after rejecting PIL
IndiGo scandal: A public interest lawsuit (PIL) seeking immediate court intervention into the “unprecedented operational collapse” of IndiGo Airlines, which had severe flight delays earlier this month, was denied by the Supreme Court on Monday.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant allowed petitioner-in-person Narendra Mishra to voice his complaints before the Delhi High Court, citing the court’s already-existing jurisdiction over the case.
The Bench, which also included Justices Vipul Pancholi and Joymalya Bagchi, asked the Delhi High Court to allow him to become involved in the ongoing proceedings.
Senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court right away that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had also established a committee to investigate the matter and that a PIL about the recent IndiGo flight delays was still pending before the Delhi High Court.
The CJI Kant-led Bench said that the petitioner may reapply to the Supreme Court if any grievance remains following the High Court’s ruling, even though it acknowledged that the matter presented concerns the greater public interest.
We understand your concern, however you should move to the Delhi High Court rather than pursuing two separate legal actions. The Supreme Court said, “You can come to us if the High Court does not address your grievance. As a constitutional court, the High Court is fully competent to address the issues involved.”
The PIL had claimed that IndiGo Airlines’ widespread flight cancellations and significant delays had turned into a “humanitarian crisis” at major airports, depriving travelers—including elderly people, young children, and those with medical needs—of food, drink, rest spaces, and emergency support.
“This is more than just an airline and customer contract conflict. The appeal said, “It has become a matter of grave public injury and a clear violation of the citizens of India’s Fundamental Right to Life and Liberty (Article 21).” It also claimed that neither IndiGo nor the DGCA exercised sufficient anticipatory monitoring and that the turmoil was caused by planning errors during the implementation of Phase-II of updated Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) standards for pilots.
The Center has come under fire from the Delhi High Court, which is considering a separate Public Interest Litigation on the matter, for allowing the situation to spiral out of control and impact the country’s economy and thousands of passengers.
A follow-up hearing is scheduled on January 22, 2026.
“We appreciate the actions taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. What worries us, however, is how such a scenario was let to develop, leaving thousands of travelers alone at airports. Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedelain noted in their December 10 ruling that “such a situation is not confined to causing inconvenience to the passengers but also affects the economy of the country, as fast movement of passengers is an important aspect to keep the economy functioning today.”
After operating more than 2,000 flights for the second day in a row, IndiGo said on Saturday that it was seeing a gradual normalization in its operations. Only two of the airline’s 2,050 flights were canceled on December 12 owing to technical difficulties, the company stated, and all impacted passengers were promptly transferred to other aircraft.