Partner Niloy Pyne from Khaitan & Partners submitted a first information report (FIR) to Kolkata’s police director general and commissioner, as well as to local police station officers, on 12 September.

The criminal complaint remains active despite Jet Airways and the pilots’ union having settled their strike late on Sunday (13 September) after five days of protracted negotiations and the cancellation of over 1,300 flights.

Khaitan & Partners represented the airline and a first officer, who allegedly received threatening phone calls after piloting a domestic flight to Kolkata, going against the picket lines.

The complaint letter alleges that during phone calls made to the Jet pilot from a striking pilot on 11 September there was a “clear and indisputable element of intimidation” and there was “no effort to even veil the threats which establishes the criminal and desperate bend of the callers”.

Pyne said that the criminal system could often be a more effective strategy in solving commercial disputes than the civil courts. “I would say that if it is actually filing a criminal complaint for the purposes of getting the benefits of a contractual obligation which one party has deliberately failed, yes the process is very fast.”

Pyne does some criminal work at the firm, supervising three associates who specialise in criminal cases.

Khaitan & Partners recently moved into a new Kolkata office after allying with Delhi’s Suman Khaitan & Co.

Photo by BeReal