At 46, Jeetendra Krishna Varma was flying all three aircraft types in Air India’s fleet. Then, in 2011, his licence was suspended without notice or inquiry, and everything unravelled. He lost his job, his marriage, custody of his children, and spent years at his father’s home in Gujarat because he could no longer afford to live in Pune or Mumbai. He has not seen his children in 15 years.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court quashed the DGCA’s suspension order, restored his licence, and noted that Delhi Police has not framed charges against him in 15 years and the authority never produced the forged mark sheet he was accused of using to procure a flying licence.

Varma is 61 now. The age bar for pilots is 65. “Aviation and flying are in my blood,” he told The Indian Express. “I want to resume flying and restart life.”

“I’d never been to a court or police station and suddenly these things came up and I was a victim of a media trial. The hasty decision of suspension of my licence led to termination of my 22 years of unblemished service record. I was at the peak of my career at the age of 46 and was flying all three kinds of aircrafts Air India had at that time and suddenly I lost everything and until now I have been struggling and fighting. With this ruling, I have got my life and dignity back,” he told The Indian Express.

The suspension not only ended his flying career but upended his personal life. Varma, who was earlier based in Pune, claims he lost his house, underwent divorce proceedings after he was terminated, and has not seen his children in 15 years. He spent part of that period living at his father’s home in Gujarat because he could no longer afford to live in Pune or Mumbai.

“My family members, including my siblings and close friends, supported me and without them it would have been difficult and I might have had to beg on the streets. I ended up spending at least over Rs 50 lakh in the last 15 years. It was very painful and a 15-year legal fight with running from pillar to post is no joke. You cannot change destiny; you have to face it. You need patience and must remain calm during the judicial process,” he said.

On March 12, 2011, Varma was on a flight from Shanghai to New Delhi. At his hotel room in Delhi, he was summoned by police officers probing allegations of favouritism in the issuance of licences by DGCA officials. He had been accused of paying certain amounts for a forged marksheet to obtain his licence. He was arrested along with another pilot and granted bail within a week on March 19.

Four days later, he wrote to DGCA seeking the suspension’s withdrawal and release of his Commercial Pilot License (CPL) so he could fly as a co-pilot and earn a living. No reply came, and he approached the Bombay High Court in April 2011 through advocates Mohan Bir Singh and Rahul Jalan.

Although a criminal complaint was lodged against him in 2011 by Delhi Police for allegedly procuring a flying licence using forged mark sheets, and he was released on bail within a week, no charges have been framed against him even after 15 years. His termination from Air India had earlier been set aside by the HC observing violation of fundamental rights and principles of natural justice and upheld by the Supreme Court last year, after which he rejoined the airline. But he still couldn’t fly, as the licence remained suspended.

The bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram Shirsat found that the DGCA had suspended his Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) without issuing a show-cause notice, without identifying any forged document, and without specifying the duration of the suspension.

Examining Rule 39-A of the Aircraft Rules, the court observed that the authority was required to hear a person before disqualifying them and pass a reasoned order, which was not done. Justice Shirsat, writing for the bench, observed that the licensing authority had “conspicuously failed” to explain the basis of its decision.

The court also rejected the DGCA’s reliance on Rule 19, which applies only to persons convicted of contraventions under the Aircraft Rules. Since Varma had not been convicted, that reliance was misplaced. The DGCA had argued the suspension was “neither arbitrary nor illegal and that it was passed on merits, based on the documents available on record.” The court disagreed, setting it aside as “clearly illegal and unsustainable.” The matter has been remitted to DGCA, which must give Varma an opportunity to explain his version and pass a reasoned order within two months.

Varma trained at the Airline Asian Academy in Orlando, Florida, and was issued a CPL by DGCA in 1988. He joined Air India as a trainee pilot /a, was appointed co-pilot in 1991 and confirmed in 1992. Over nearly two decades he accumulated close to 7,000 flying hours and eventually qualified for an Airline Transport Pilot Licence, the qualification required for command responsibilities. He took the necessary exams in both India and the US and obtained an ATPL certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. He had undergone licence-renewal checks in 2010 and was certified fit for renewal by a DGCA-approved examiner just before the suspension came.

“The age bar for flying is 65, and I have only a few flying years left, so I have to start from scratch, but my passion is still alive. Technology and the way of training have changed in the last 15 years so I’ll have to work on that. I have to get my licence first followed by a medical checkup. It’s a long process. Let’s see what happens,” he said.