The Hindu: New Delhi: Saturday, June 03, 2017.
Twelve years
ago, Wing Commander Sanjeet Singh Kaila did not know that a routine training
sortie in a MiG-21 will be his last run as a fighter pilot for the Air Force.
On January 4,
2005, minutes after take-off, his MiG burst into flames. All attempts by him to
save the aircraft failed. He bailed out seconds before the aircraft crashed
over the Nal Airbase in Rajasthan.
The Delhi
High Court noted how Mr. Kaila stayed in the burning craft to steer it away
from any human habitation, saving several lives in the process.
Today, Mr.
Kaila is engaged in a different fight of sorts, that with his employer, the
Union of India and the aircraft’s manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL).
Through
information painstakingly procured through the Right to Information Act, Mr.
Kaila claimed before the High Court that the accident was caused by “poor
workmanship on the part of HAL, resulting in a fatigue crack, fatal to the
aircraft.” He argued that the the lack of airworthiness of the aircraft,
induced by purely human factors, resulted in violation of his right to life
under Article 21, more specifically, his right to work in a safe environment.
Medical
condition
His injuries
from the accident progressed into a medical condition called cervicalgia,
forcing him to discontinue his career as a fighter pilot. “From being an ace
fighter pilot, to commanding the NCC training corps is a far cry,” the High
Court noted.
He told the
court that he wanted compensation and an apology from the Union government and
HAL.
A Division
Bench of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Deepa Sharma agreed with Mr. Kaila that
he was placed in a situation of unreasonable risk.
Right to
life
In a judgment
on May 2, the High Court observed that though a soldier’s life is that of risk,
this danger cannot be the result of negligence. “A soldier or officer’s honour
and dignity is as much a part of his right to life; it is to be respected just
as much, if not more, for the reason that it is offered unhesitatingly and
fully in defending the borders of the nation,” the High Court had observed.
The court
also took exception to the fact that Mr. Kaila had to struggle for years and
through RTI to know what caused the accident. “Unlike ‘hired guns’ they stand
guard so that the rest exercise our liberties. Denying them the right to a safe
workplace with standard equipment constitutes violation of their right to life
and dignity,” the judgment said.
Orders
compensation
The High
Court ordered the Union to compensate Mr. Kaila ₹5 lakh for the “trauma he
underwent and for non-disclosure of relevant information relating to an unsafe
workplace”. It further held HAL liable to pay him ₹50 lakh.
The court
moreover asked the government to consider the feasibility of starting an
insurance policy for Air Force pilots against the special risks they undertake
in the discharge of their duties. “The premia paid and the insurance policy
taken out should be such as to indemnify the particular kinds of injuries that
pilots are likely to suffer, in such incidents both physical and mental,” the
High Court observed.
However, Mr.
Kaila’s case suffered a reversal on May 23 when a Vacation Bench of Justices L.
Nageswara Rao and Navin Sinha stayed the High Court decision until further
orders.
On Friday, in
no mood to give up a fight, Mr. Kaila approached the Supreme Court with a plea
to lift the interim stay order.
This time, a
different Vacation Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices M.M.
Shantanagoudar and Deepak Gupta agreed to post the plea with the main case on
July 17 before the appropriate Bench.
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