Supreme Court on 700% airfare hike plea: ‘Don’t travel by air. Next case’

The Supreme Court on Monday (2 November) refused to urgently hear a plea that flagged an alleged 700% hike in domestic airfares ahead of Diwali. When the petitioner’s lawyer raised the issue, Justice Vikram Nath replied: “Don’t travel by air. Next case.”

The application was mentioned for urgent listing before a three-judge Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh. It was an oral mentioning, not a full hearing, and no order was passed on it.

“The aviation fare has increased by 700%,” the advocate told the court, according to The Hindu. He argued that air travel is an essential service and that such a steep rise amounted to a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. Justice Nath responded with the remark and moved on to the next matter.

The application was filed on 30 October in a pending public interest litigation (PIL) by social activist S. Laxminarayanan, which challenges algorithm-based dynamic pricing, sudden fare hikes and extra charges by airlines. It sought interim directions to cap fares during the current festival season and the year-end holidays, and to restore a free checked-baggage allowance of 25 kg in economy class.

The plea said fares on several major domestic routes had risen to between two and seven times their usual levels before Diwali. Citing a news report, it said a Delhi–Kolkata ticket that normally costs ₹10,000 to ₹11,000 had reached ₹78,694 for travel on 6 November. It also argued that the main PIL is listed for 16 November, by which time festive travel for Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath Puja would be over.

Monday’s remark stood out because the same judge had earlier taken a sharp view of fare surges in this case. Hearing the PIL in January, Justice Nath called the pricing “exploitation”. “We will definitely interfere. Just see the exploitation during Kumbh and other festivals,” he had said, The Indian Express reported.

What next? The main PIL will be heard on 16 November, when the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to place before it the new rules under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024. The Centre notified those rules, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026, on 1 November; they take effect on 1 January 2027 and let the government step in on fares only “in an extraordinary situation” where it considers it necessary in the public interest, The Times of India reported.