KOCHI, India – International airlines operating in the gulf sector are the worst offenders when it comes to flying in passengers without valid visas, the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) has informed the high court.
In an affidavit filed to the court through senior central government counsel T Sanjay, BoI said a central law making air carriers liable for transporting passengers, who don’t have visas, was strictly implemented at Cochin International Airport in February last year.
The law, Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, was implemented based on instruction from the home ministry and BoI headquarters to streamline the security measures put in place to ensure that only genuine passengers travelled through the airport, the affidavit said.
Human trafficking through Nedumbassery airport, allegedly with the aid of senior police officers, was revealed last year, and a CBI probe is going on.
BoI has now told the court that since February last year, a total of 86 cases have been imposed against 14 airline operators for transporting passengers without valid visas. Penalty was levied from air carriers in 51 of the 86 cases, the affidavit revealed.
The affidavit was filed by BoI in response to a petition filed by Kuwait Airways questioning the Rs 1 lakh fine imposed on it for flying in a foreigner without a visa.
The airways flew down a Kuwaiti national, Mohammed KHMS Al Mutairi from Kuwait to Kochi on September 5 this year, though his visa had expired on September 4.
In a petition filed in the high court through advocate A Abdul Kharim, Kuwait Airways questioned the fine. They argued that neither the Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920 nor its rules stipulates that the air carrier will be liable if a passenger travels without a valid visa. Notice was issued by BoI on a misconception of law. Further, the fine amount is exorbitant and disproportionate, the petition had said.
Opposing this, BoI has now submitted to the court that the 2000 law makes air carriers liable in respect of passengers brought by them into India in contravention of the provisions of Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920 and associated rules.
BoI also points out that Kuwait Airways was issued notice for flying in passengers without visas five times. The air carrier was spared from paying the fine by BoI in three such incidents as it was felt that the airlines had genuine grounds for seeking waiver. In one instance, the carrier had paid the Rs 1 lakh fine, the court was told.
“In Cochin airport itself, penalty as prescribed in the Act has been realized 51 times of the 86 cases charged. Needless to say the international airlines operating in the gulf sector are the worst offenders. The petitioner company (Kuwait Airways) is only testing waters by filing this writ petition. It is an internationally accepted procedure wherein the aircraft have to ensure that only persons with valid visas board their flights while heading to foreign destinations,” the affidavit reads.
