CD controversy: Abhishek Manu Singhvi quits as Congress spokesperson, parliamentary panel chief

April 23, 2012

New Delhi, April 23: Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi has quit as the chairperson of Parliament Standing Committee on Law and Justice and as the Congress spokesperson following the CD controversy. After the CD allegedly featuring Singhvi surfaced, the Congress sidelined him and removed him from party's official spokespersons roster. Singhvi was the Vice-President of Congress's media cell.

Singhvi in a press release on Monday said that he had informed Congress President Sonia Gandhi about his decision to quit. Claiming that the CD is fabricated and morphed, Singhvi blamed his rivals and those opposing him of spreading canards and baseless allegations against him.

"I have decided to resign as Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice. Personnel and Grievances and have informed the Hon'ble Congress President accordingly. I have also decided not to brief the press," said Singhvi.

"I have done this only to prevent even the slightest possible Parliamentary disruption regarding the purported CDs being circulated about me. Since I am a disciplined party soldier, I did not think it fit to subject the party to any inconvenience on this account. All allegations are patently baseless and false," he said in the letter.

Despite an injunction by the Delhi High, the video went viral on the Internet. The High Court had restrained media from publishing, telecasting and broadcasting the contents of the CD.

Singhvi had on Saturday slammed social networking websites over the CD controversy surrounding him. The Supreme Court lawyer accused the websites of using the CD for sensationalism.

Hitting out at social networking websites, Singhvi pointed that while there was a court injunction on the issue, the author of the alleged CD had also sworn an affidavit in the court and accepted that the contents were fabricated.

"An organised gang has been purposely used by motivated interests to use the social sites for sensationalism and permanent damage," said Singhvi.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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