‘Not fit to fly, go stitch shoes’, Indian pilot from lower caste told

“Go stitch slippers” is what an Indigo trainee pilot alleged he was told by his seniors. Sharan A, a 35-year-old employee with IndiGo Airlines, has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, against three senior colleagues, including a flight captain, for alleged caste-based verbal abuse and discrimination, Indian media reported on Tuesday.

The incident allegedly occurred during a meeting at IndiGo’s office in Gurugram’s Emaar Capital Tower 2 on 28 April 2025.

The FIR, registered at DLF Phase-1 police station on 22 June 2025, after being transferred as a Zero FIR (an FIR that can be registered at any police station, regardless of the location of the crime) from Bengaluru’s Sampigehalli police station, names Tapas Dey, Manish Sahani, and Captain Rahul Patil as the accused. Sharan, a member of the Adi Dravida community (Scheduled Caste), alleged that the trio subjected him to humiliating, casteist slurs.

According to the FIR, Sharan was summoned to a meeting at IndiGo’s office in Sector 24, Gurugram, on 28 April 2025, between 3:30 PM and 4:00 PM. Before the meeting began, Tapas Dey allegedly instructed Sharan in a “humiliating and derogatory manner” to leave his bag and phone outside, setting the tone for what followed. 

During the meeting, the three accused reportedly unleashed a barrage of casteist insults in the presence of others, targeting Sharan’s Scheduled Caste identity.

These statements, Sharan alleged, were made with the intent to degrade his dignity and undermine his professional standing. “The remarks were not just personal insults but deliberate attacks on my caste, meant to humiliate me in front of colleagues,” Sharan wrote in his complaint.

The complainant further alleged ongoing harassment at IndiGo, including being forced to undergo corrective training without justification, unauthorised salary cuts, arbitrary sick leave deductions, revocation of staff travel privileges, and issuance of a warning letter without evidence. “These actions were designed to pressure me into resigning,” Sharan told the police, adding the lack of action from IndiGo’s leadership exacerbated his mental distress.

Sharan alleged he first approached IndiGo’s internal mechanisms, lodging complaints with the CEO and Ethics Committee, but received no resolution. After giving the accused seven days to apologise, he sought assistance from a lawyer and the SC/ST Cell, eventually filing a complaint with Bengaluru’s Sampigehalli police station on 21 May 2025.

A police spokesperson told ThePrint on Monday that the accused, all senior employees at IndiGo, will be summoned for questioning on 24 June 2025. “We have registered the case and initiated an investigation. The accused will be called to join the probe, and further action will be taken as per law,” he said.