IndiGo pilot seeks permission to carry kirpan on plane
An IndiGo Airlines pilot, Angad Singh, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking permission to carry a kirpan—a small curved sword—inside airports. Singh argues that carrying a kirpan is his fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution, which allows him to practice his religion. In response, the court has issued notices to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The court has scheduled further hearings for January 29, 2024.
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Singh has referred to a March 4, 2022, notification from the BCAS stating that Sikhs could carry kirpans with blades no longer than six inches and a total length not exceeding nine inches. While initially only Sikh passengers were allowed to carry kirpans, a subsequent order allowed all Sikh employees at airports to carry kirpans. Singh claims that the security officials have not allowed him to carry his kirpan inside airports and have confiscated it.
Delhi High Court judgment cited in plea
To support his case, the Indigo pilot cited a December 2022 Delhi HC judgment in the Harsh Vibhore Singhal case, which found no discrimination between Sikh passengers and airport workers. He argues that if passengers can carry kirpans, it's illogical for him to be denied the same right. Singh's lawyer advocate, Saahil Shyam Dewani, said the restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation are required to be amended as of March 12, 2022, in line with the BCAS decision.
Hindu Sena challenged BCAS's decision over Kirpan
Notably, the decision was challenged in the Supreme Court by Hindu Sena—a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization—in August last year. However, the SC bench, comprising Justices Abdul Nazeer and JK Maheshwari, said that kirpan was allowed "while traveling by air on Indian aircraft within India (domestic routes of fully domestic flights operating from Domestic Terminals only." They allowed the petitioner to approach the high court with regard to the case, following which the petition was withdrawn.
SGPC opposes Kirpan ban on flights and airports
In this matter, Harjinder Singh Dhami, the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), had written a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia demanding the abolition of this rule. In his 2022 missive, Dhami wrote, "This discrimination is an attack on the religious freedom of Sikhs. Centre shouldn't forget that Sikhs were at the forefront of sacrificing for India's independence, and it is because of Sikhs that the culture of the country is still alive today."
