Mr. Anil Kumar Mishra represented Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu before the Supreme Court of India in Air India Express Ltd. & Ors. v. Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu, reported in (2019) 17 SCC 129.
Representation Before the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court record identifies Mr. Anil Kumar Mishra-I, Advocate as counsel appearing for the respondent, Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu. In an earlier proceeding in the matter, he was also recorded as an Advocate-on-Record (AOR) for the respondent.
His participation was therefore on behalf of Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu, who was the respondent in the appeal brought by Air India Express Limited and the other appellants.
Nature of the Dispute
The dispute arose from the resignation of Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu, who was employed as a pilot with Air India Express. The central question before the Supreme Court concerned whether she was entitled to withdraw her resignation before it became effective.
The matter involved consideration of the terms governing her employment and the applicable Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) concerning resignation and notice periods applicable to pilots.
Capt. Sandhu had submitted her resignation to Air India Express and subsequently sought to withdraw it before the expiry of the relevant notice period. The dispute ultimately reached the Supreme Court after proceedings before the High Court.
Mr. Mishra’s Role
Mr. Anil Kumar Mishra’s verified role was to represent Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu as counsel before the Supreme Court. His appearance is expressly reflected in the Court’s record.
The final judgment records the respondent-side submissions principally through Mr. Jamshed P. Cama, Senior Advocate. The judgment does not separately attribute a specific submission or legal argument to Mr. Mishra by name. Accordingly, no particular argument is attributed to him individually in describing his contribution to the matter.
His verified involvement is therefore his representation of the respondent and his participation as part of the respondent’s legal team in proceedings concerning the validity and withdrawal of the resignation.
Issues Considered by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court considered the applicable employment conditions and Civil Aviation Requirements governing the resignation of pilots. The Court examined whether the resignation could be withdrawn by the pilot before the expiry of the notice period and the consequences of the applicable regulatory and contractual framework.
After examining the relevant provisions and the circumstances of the case, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal filed by Air India Express Limited and the other appellants.
The Supreme Court set aside the judgments of the High Court and allowed the appeal. The decision therefore determined the dispute in favour of Air India Express on the question concerning the withdrawal and effectiveness of the respondent’s resignation.
Verified Role
Mr. Anil Kumar Mishra’s role in the matter can accurately be described as:
Counsel / Advocate-on-Record for Capt. Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu, Respondent.
His appearance on behalf of the respondent is expressly reflected in the Supreme Court record. The reported judgment does not individually attribute particular submissions to him, and therefore his role is stated without assigning any argument to him that is not specifically identified in the Court record.