Delhi High Court — challenge to the flight ban on e-cigarettes (2022)
AVI is fighting this case today. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) bars e-cigarettes from airport premises and aircraft, under directions issued under the Aircraft Act, 1934 that cite PECA. Two consumer petitioners, both former smokers whose devices were confiscated at airport security, argue that the directions go beyond what PECA prohibits and beyond BCAS's powers. AVI identified and briefed the petitioners, retained counsel and has directed the litigation since the first draft. The named petitioners are individual consumers, not AVI.
Outcome: Ongoing, and AVI is running it. The two petitions were heard together on the merits, and the court reserved judgment on 15 September 2026.
What is challenged. On 10 January 2020 BCAS issued an addendum to its AVSEC Order No. 05/2005 prohibiting e-cigarettes in “the premises of aerodromes/aircraft”, citing the prohibition under PECA, 2019. A fresh order, AVSEC Order No. 02/2022 of 4 March 2022, carried the prohibition forward.
The petitions. The first petitioner’s devices were confiscated at Delhi and Kolkata airports in December 2020. The second petitioner’s device was confiscated at Goa airport. The petitions argue that:
- PECA prohibits production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement, but not personal possession, and the government gave public assurances to that effect when it was enacted;
- the Aircraft Act, 1934 lets BCAS restrict items that threaten aviation security or safety, and e-cigarettes are not such a threat; other battery-powered devices, cigarettes and nicotine gum are all allowed on board, and international aviation guidance permits e-cigarettes in cabin baggage; and
- the ban is arbitrary under Article 14 and infringes personal liberty under Article 21.
The government’s response. In its counter-affidavit of January 2023, BCAS pointed to overheating and fire risks and to the newer 2022 order, and said the addendum was issued to give effect to PECA.
Where the petitioners came from. From January 2020, days after the flight ban took effect, AVI ran a public confiscation-report form that logged 60 incidents nationwide over three years, most heavily out of Mumbai and Delhi, with 70% of respondents willing to join a legal challenge. Both petitioners came from that record, and the pattern it documented (personal devices seized with no process, no evidence of risk and no route to get them back) is the core of the argument in court.
AVI’s role. An earlier petition was drafted for the Karnataka High Court in 2020 but not taken forward. AVI then retained counsel in Delhi, who filed the first petition in 2022 and a second in 2023 after the government’s counter-affidavit. The court heard both together and reserved judgment on 15 September 2026.