A trainee pilot at IndiGo has accused three senior officials of making casteist remarks against him. He said they told him he was "not fit to fly a plane" and should "stitch shoes instead." The 35-year-old trainee belongs to a Scheduled Caste and has filed a police complaint. An FIR has been registered against the three IndiGo officials, Tapas Dey, Manish Sahni, and Captain Rahul Patil, under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which protects people from caste-based discrimination.

The trainee first went to the police in Bengaluru, where a zero FIR was registered. A zero FIR can be filed at any police station, no matter where the incident happened. The case has now been transferred to Gurugram, where IndiGo’s head office is located. IndiGo has not yet responded to the allegations made by the trainee pilot. On its website, the airline claims to support diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It says it values all employees and customers regardless of their gender, caste, religion, background, or other personal identities.

In his police complaint, the trainee pilot mentioned a meeting that took place on April 28 at IndiGo’s Gurugram office. He claimed that during this 30-minute meeting, senior officials told him, “You are not fit to fly an aircraft, go back and stitch slippers. You are not even worthy of being a watchman here.” He believes that this harassment was done to force him to resign and that the remarks were meant to insult him because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste.

The pilot also said he was targeted at work through unfair salary cuts, being made to attend retraining sessions without reason, and being issued warning letters without cause. He claimed he reported these issues to senior officials and IndiGo’s ethics panel, but no action was taken. He said he was left with no choice but to file a police complaint.