Mumbai:
A former airhostess of Air India has moved the Bombay high court against her "sudden" dismissal from service barely a fortnight before retirement.
Rani Radhakrishnan who joined in June 1976 has challenged the July 15 order passed by chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav, setting aside an earlier order of punishment and dismissing her from service without full retirement benefits. She was due to retire on July 31.
Radhakrishnan was suspended from service between October 2006 and April 2008. Her petition states "suddenly without warning, show-cause notice, hearing or any other opportunity she was dismissed".
Her petition states that under 69 A of Air India Employees Service Regulation the MD is empowered to "entertain request/appeal for reviewing cases" and in the absence of any request or appeal, he has no authority, power or jurisdiction.
A complaint was filed by Soman Alappat alleging that Radhakrishnan's husband Sebastian Felix (who ran a travel agency) and two others cheated him of Rs5.74 lakh by promising to help his brother-in-law get a job visa to UK and instead got it for South Africa. An FIR was filed against all of them.
Her petition states that Alappat wrote to AI on April 4, 2007 stating that he had lodged the complaint due sour business relations with Felix and had withdrawn his case. On July 7, 2008 her suspension was revoked.
She said she was reinstated without backwages and suffered a loss of Rs20 lakh inclusive of flying allowances.
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