“Don’t travel by air,” the bench told the petitioner, as a separate case seeking an independent aviation regulator awaits new rules due before the court on November 16
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to urgently list a petition alleging that airfares have risen by nearly 700%, with the bench remarking that the petitioner could simply avoid flying.
An advocate mentioned the matter before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh, telling the court that fares had climbed sevenfold. “Don’t travel by air,” the bench responded. The advocate argued that air travel is an essential service and that the increase violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before law.
The court is already hearing a related petition filed by social activist S Laxminarayanan. That plea seeks a strong, independent regulator to ensure transparency and protect passengers across civil aviation, along with guidelines to curb erratic swings in airfares and the extra charges levied by private airlines.
At an October 16 hearing in that case, the Centre told the court that rules under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, had received administrative approval and were expected to be published within two weeks. The bench directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to place the published rules before it at the next hearing, scheduled for November 16.
The government had earlier informed the court, on August 17, that it had fast-tracked the framing of these rules, which are intended to modernise the aviation sector.
The court first sought responses from the Centre and others on Laxminarayanan’s plea in November last year. During a January hearing, it signalled willingness to intervene in unpredictable fare fluctuations, flagged steep increases during festive seasons, and described such hikes as “exploitation.” It also asked the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to file their replies.
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