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On Friday, Bombay high court passed an order allowing airlines to fly with middle seats occupied in compliance with the DGCA order circulated on 31st march. The order was passed while hearing the petition filed by Air India pilot Deven Kanani. The petition was filed against the carriers who violated the circular issued by government on 23rd march and kept middle seats occupied while evacuating the stranded passengers under Vande Bharat Mission.
The order was passed by A Division bench comprising Justice SJ Kathawalla and Justice SP Tavade. The bench relied on the recommendation made by an expert committee headed by Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and comprising Dr. Randep Guleria, Dr.Balram Bhargava, Dr. Naresh Trehan. The committee said that the infection cannot be transmitted by only a touch of an infected person. The infection spreads only when the droplets coming out of mouth and nose of an infected person comes into the contact with hands, nose or mouth of non-infected person. If an infected person is wearing protective gears and non-infected person is sitting right next to him, the gears will act as a barrier for the virus and vice-versa.
In its report, the committee submitted that “Covid-19 virus can be transmitted by touch only under certain circumstances. For example, lf a surface, like clothes, is infected with Covid-19 virus (such infection will take place when the droplets from the mouth or nose -sneezing or coughing- of an infected person sit on such a surface) and a non-infected person touches it and then touches his mouth or nose, then there are chances that the second person may get infected.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the side of DGCA and submitted these recommendations.
The DGCA circulated an order on May 31st advising all the airlines to keep middle seats vacant. If middle seats are kept occupied, all protective gears like gloves and gowns of standard quality approved by textile ministry should be provided to middle seat occupant.
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