Sindh High Court has allowed Shaheen Air International (SAI) to continue its international and domestic flight operations, stopping the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) directives to withdraw facilities in the process.
SAI had filed an application in the Sindh High Court regarding CAA’s letter to withdraw all the facilities if the airline did not pay its dues on a given date. SAI told the court that it should be allowed to fly because they have been paying their dues in installments.
In its decision Sindh High Court stopped CAA from taking action. It said that the CAA can not take punitive actions against the plaintiff in relation to the recovery of dues by suspending its international and domestic flight operations.
The SHC order said,
The letter is malafide and an arm twisting method to disrupt SAI’s operations illegally. In the event of suspended flight operations of the SAI, it could cause immense inconvenient to passengers.
Shaheen Air presented the details in front of the court. It argued that the total dues that the company has to pay CAA amount to Rs. 1.296 billion and that SAI has agreed to pay this amount in installments every 10 days. SAI has also produced proof of payment of the first installment of Rs. 100 million on July 15th via telegraph transfer. The payment of installments was to show the willingness of the applicant to clear all dues.
The SHC has now issued notice to CAA to appear in front of the court on July 31.
A spokesperson of SAI told ProPakistani that being the 2nd national flag carrier, the airline is fully aware of its national responsibilities. All SAI operations and flights will fly on schedule.
