The petitioner said that countries like China, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka changed their call signs after independence, but even after 93 years, the prefix VT (‘Victorian Territory’ or ‘Viceroy’s Territory’) on Indian aircraft remains.
The petitioner said that countries like China, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka changed their call signs after independence, but even after 93 years, the prefix VT (‘Victorian Territory’ or ‘Viceroy’s Territory’) on Indian aircraft remains.
A petition was filed on Thursday before the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Center to change the call sign ‘VT’ written on Indian aircraft to ‘Victorian Territory’ or ‘Viceroy’s Territory’, a legacy of the British Raj. is for.
Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, in his plea, said that the prefix ‘VT’ is the nationality code that every aircraft registered in India is required to carry. The code is usually seen just before the rear exit door and above the windows.
Shri Upadhyay said that all domestic airlines have the prefix ‘VT’ followed by unique letters that define the aircraft and to whom it belongs.
It said that Britain had prescribed the prefix ‘VT’ for all colonies in 1929. While countries such as China, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka changed their call signs after independence, the prefix remains on Indian aircraft even after 93 years.
Shri Upadhyay said, “VT is not a symbol of pride, but a matter of shame, if we are still using it, when our country is independent.”
“Even our Prime Minister visits world leaders in Air India One B747-437 with call sign VT-EVB. Is the prime minister the leader of an independent democratic country or a viceroyalty? After partition, Pakistan changed its call sign to Associated Press. Similarly, the Bahamas changed from ‘VP-B’ to ‘C6’, Nepal to ‘9N’, Sri Lanka from ‘VP-C’ to ‘4R’ and Zimbabwe from ‘VP-W’ to ‘Z’. The argument was made in the petition.
In accordance with international laws governed by the United Nations, aircraft of each nation must be assigned the name of the country to which it belongs, using a unique alpha-numeric code. The five-letter code should consist of two letters, ie the country code (‘VT’ in the case of India) and the rest indicating which company owns the aircraft.
Shri Upadhyay said that there has been a demand to change the code for a very long time as it is a sign of colonial rule, but the subsequent governments did nothing.
