Petition to change Indian aircraft call sign 'VT'; HC asks to 'Approach government first'

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad on Monday allowed a petitioner to give a representation to the Centre in a plea to change the Indian aircraft call sign 'VT' based on the reason that it refers to Victorian Territory and the Viceroy Territory, which is a legacy of the British Raj.

The court states that it was the government and lawmakers who legislate and that the court could not change the call sign.

"We are not supposed to do it. Government does it, not us. They are the lawmakers. We do not legislate. You approach the government first," the bench said.

According to the application, a call sign or registration code is used to identify an aircraft and the prefix 'VT' is the nationality code that all aircraft registered in India must carry. Monika Arora, standing counsel for the Central Government, argued that the petitioner can give representation to the government and the concerned ministry at any time.

After some arguments, petitioner and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay sought permission to give representation to the government, which was accepted by the court.

The court said that the PIL stands disposed of with the liberty sought by the petitioner and that the representation is decided in a reasonable time.

The demand in the petition was to direct the Central Government to change the call sign 'VT' on Indian aircraft to ensure India's sovereignty, rule of law, right to freedom and dignity of Indians as guaranteed by the Constitution.

They added that our neighbouring countries like China, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka changed their aircraft call signs soon after independence.

"The code is generally seen just before the rear exit door and above the windows. All domestic airlines have the prefix, which is followed by unique alphabets that define the aircraft and who it belongs to. For example, on Indigo flights the registration VT is followed by IDV, that is, VT-IDV, for Jet, it is VT-JMV," the petition said.

"Petitioner submits that the registration number of Indian aircraft marks the legacy of 'British Raj'. 'VT' code is a reflection of colonial rule. India is a sovereign country hence cannot be a territory of the Viceroy. Why is India continuing with the VT code? The efforts of the government to change the registration code have been fruitless."

"In 2004, the aviation ministry approached the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to change the code but no decision has been taken so far," the petition added.

"It is a code given to us in 1929 by British rulers, denoting us as British territory. It is very unfortunate that India, even after 75 years of Independence, retains VT, the symbol of slavery," it said.

The petitioner had listed as parties to the petition the ministries of home, finance, external affairs, civil aviation, law and justice.

With inputs from PTI