The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Tuesday filed a police complaint against 34 pilots of multiple airlines for allegedly making obscene remarks against its officials on social media, The Hindu reported. The pilots were reported to be working with SpiceJet, Jet Airways, GoAir and IndiGo.
DGCA Director General BS Bhullar said the police was looking into the matter. The pilots were part of a common WhatsApp group where the alleged obscene remarks against the DGCA officials were made by few of the members.
Around 10 Jet Airways pilots had been taken to a police station on Tuesday morning, but were not detained or arrested, The Times of India reported. “Our colleagues were called to DGCA Office on Tuesday morning after which they were taken to Lodhi Road Police Station. We are consulting lawyers and plan to go to the police station in a show of solidarity,” a senior Jet pilot said.
Pilots had also allegedly addressed the senior DGCA official wrongly in a mail. Taking offence, the DGCA asked Jet Airways to check the mental “alertness” of the 10 pilots and questioned if they were fit enough to fly.
Talking about the WhatsApp conversation on the common group, a DGCA official said, “The message was circulating on social media and we submitted a screenshot of the text to the police at the Lodhi Road police station.” Another DGCA official said the text of the messages “was highly objectionable and unpardonable”. He said that obscene language had been used about family members of DGCA officials.
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