A pilot working in Airline INDIGO has approached the Bombay High Court.
In his petition, the man has demanded that he be allowed to take the saber on board the flight. He has demanded from the court that it should grant him permission from the Central Government that he can carry the saber during the flight as per his religion.
In the case of the petition seeking permission to take Kripal in the flight, the division bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri issued notice to the Central Government and the airline and sought their response. The bench has fixed the next hearing of the case on January 29, 2024.
Kirpan is a curved short knife, one of the five major limbs in Sikhism. Angad Singh, a pilot with InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo, has claimed in a petition filed before the Nagpur bench of the High Court that he has the right to carry a kirpan as part of religious freedom under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.
Singh’s lawyer Sahil Shyam Dewani said there was a need to amend the restrictions imposed by the Civil Aviation Ministry because on March 12, 2022, the government had issued guidelines allowing Sikh passengers to carry a specific shape of kirpan.
However, the guidelines state that employees working at airports or airlines (including those belonging to the Sikh religion) are not allowed to carry kirpans. The petition claimed that this is a violation of their fundamental rights. Furthermore, allowing passengers to carry sabers on board aircraft but denying airline employees the same right defies logic.