The body weight figures quoted in the Indian Airlines Service Regulations were yardsticks for optimum fitness demanded of its stewardesses, he said. “These are not fanciful figures meant for an athlete, and which an air-hostess should aspire to have.” The Bench agreed that every profession had its own fitness standards. Justice Sikri observed: “Being a hyper-tense person is not a disqualification for a judge, but, let’s say, it is enough to declare an army man medically unfit.”

The appeal had specifically challenged the legality of a circular issued by DGM (IFS) under the advice of the Executive Director (IFS) IAL Headquarters on May 4, 2006 by which grounding of air-hostesses became effective with the taking away of the grace weight. The air-hostesses, through their counsel Arvind Kumar Sharma, contended that service regulations concerned “talks about flying crew, including cabin crew, will be retained in service so long as they remain medically fit for flying duties”.

“The airlines uses general health standards for determining if a stewardess is overweight or not. To determine the accurate weight of an individual, one has to take into account individual Body Mass Index and body frame into account,” submitted Sharma. “Grounding of air-hostesses on being overweight by nearly 500 grams is contrary to service regulations and totally malafide,” he added.

But the court acknowledged with the ASG’s submission that the air-hostesses were already in the know when they signed the contract. The Bench limited its jurisdiction to the question whether an overweight air-hostess ought to be given an opportunity to trim up before she is grounded. As the hearing wrapped up, Sharma shot a poser to Justice Sikri, who reserved the appeal for a final verdict, as to why a “pilot who is 20 kg overweight not grounded? Why does this rule apply to stewardesses alone?”

... contd.