Life
Maharaja's Moustache
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| Is it fair that Maharaja, the Indian Airlines mascot, sports a spirited handlebar, but its crew members cannot?
The Indian Supreme Court will have to weigh in on this one. Justice Markandeya Katju expressed astonishment that 62-year-old Joynath Victor De was fired as the airline’s purser seven years ago for refusing to shave the moustache. “How can somebody be removed from a job because of the size of his moustache?” He remarked to the airline’s senior counsel Fali Nariman: “Even you have a moustache. So even you would not be eligible for an Indian Airlines job.” The airline’s rules require its pursers to be clean shaven, providing exceptions only for Sikhs. When De refused to comply he was fired. The Calcutta High Court ruled for the airline, a decision that he is appealing to the Supreme Court. |