Delhi High Court took a note of a plea moved by the DGCA and said the conduct of Breath Analyser Test for staff of ATC, commercial pilots, cabin crew, and other staff members shall continue as per the guidelines.
Justice Pratibha M Singh passed this direction on the plea moved by DGCA seeking modification in the order 11 May, 2021. The court while passing the order refused to allow the request to conduct BAT as per Covid-19 protocol i.e., allowing medical staff to conduct BAT on others in testing area without conducting their own Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).
While passing the order, the high court said, "Doctors and paramedics/nursing personnel ought to be tested on Rapid Antigen Test, prior conducting test on other personnel, as the risk would be high if such a test is not conducted, and either the doctor or nurse turns out to be Covid-19 positive." It added: “This is so more because there are chances of such persons being asymptomatic and being unaware if they have contracted the virus." The court said at this stage, the test would continue to be mandatory, in terms of order of May 11, 2021. “However, considering the submissions made today, in respect of the direction issued in paragraph 13(5) of the order dated May 11, 2021, that only six personnel shall be tested in one hour is concerned, in view of the increase in air traffic and reduction in the incidence of Covid-19, as also, to ensure optimum utilisation of resources and reduce delays, the same is dispensed with, for the time being.