New Delhi, Dec. 11 -- The Delhi high court on Wednesday criticised the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for not acting promptly against IndiGo over its failure to deploy sufficient manpower to meet the new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) norms, resulting in operational disruptions that left several passengers stranded at airports nationwide. A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued the reprimand while dealing with a petition filed by two advocates -- Akhil Rana and Utkarsh Sharma -- seeking a judicial inquiry into the mass cancellation of flights, and the compensation and ground support for the stranded passengers. Describing the situation as a crisis, the bench remarked that the government took action into the matter only after the situation turned into a crisis. It said that large scale cancellations not only resulted in causing inconvenience to the passengers but also affected the economy, in which fast movement of passengers is an important aspect to ensure its smooth functioning. "It's quite a crisis. Are you helpless? The question is why did such a situation precipitate? Who is responsible? Where have been the failures on the part of the government or the DGCA which permitted this situation to precipitate. The situation in which you had issued certain directions to the flyers for regulating working hours of their pilots, it was with an objective. Why did you not ensure that it is implemented within time?," the bench told the Centre. This was after the Centre and the DGCA's counsel -- additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma and Anjana Gosain -- submitted that the situation had arisen due to IndiGo's failure to arrange adequate manpower, despite the assurance given to comply with the FDTL norms. Sharma explained that the FDTL norms, which were first introduced in January 2024, were to be implemented in two phases from July 1 and November 1. He said that while all the other airlines arranged manpower to comply with the norms, IndiGo, despite its assurance to the DGCA, failed to do so. The law officer said that following the disruptions, the DGCA granted a one-time exemption from crew fatigue rules until February 10, 2026, with a condition that the situation would be reviewed after every 15 days. He added that such a decision was taken to ensure continuity of services and in the interest of passengers. He added that the Centre had also issued directions mandating airlines to automatically issue full refunds in case of cancellations, provide hotel accommodation to the stranded passengers and give lounge access to the elderly. In terms of the action taken in the situation, ASG Sharma said that the DGCA has constituted a committee for review and assessment of circumstances leading to disruptions and an inquiry was ongoing. IndiGo's counsel, however, Sandeep Sethi argued that such a situation had occurred for the first time in the airline's 19-year history, and that the mass cancellations were the result of several factors including technical glitch, not solely the FDTL norms. He further informed the court that the airline had already issued refunds amounting to Rs.1,100 crore. "Even if they failed in their assurance, what have you done?" the bench asked the law officer. "Mr Sharma, these all actions have been taken by you once the crisis erupted. Why did the situation arise? What have you been doing? You have done all this only after the crisis precipitated, what did you do to ensure that such a crisis does not precipitate? Instead of taking any action under law, you extended the time period." It added, "What bothers us is how such a situation was allowed to precipitate, leaving lakhs of passengers unattended at the airports..."...