Mumbai, Dec 09: Crisis-ridden IndiGo on Tuesday claimed that the airline is back on its feet and operations are stable, even as it keeps addressing all customer needs.

In the latest video message, IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers also said that lakhs of customers, whose flights were cancelled or delayed, have already received their full refunds, and the process is ongoing on a daily basis.

Elbers, however, remained tight-lipped on the compensation to customers, whose flights were cancelled at the last minute or were hugely delayed.

As per the Civil Aviation Ministry’s passenger charter, if an airline fails to inform a passenger of his/her flight cancellation at least two weeks before departure, compensation is legally mandatory, and its amount depends on the flight duration.

Also, the airline has to provide compensation automatically, without passengers asking for it.

“IndiGo is back on its feet, and our operations are stable. We’ve let you down when a major operational disruption happened, and we’re sorry for that,” Elbers said in a video message on Tuesday.

“Earlier, we had indicated to normalise between December 10-15. I can confirm now that today, as of December 9, our operations are fully stabilised, which means flights reflecting on our website are scheduled to operate with an adjusted network,” he added.

Acknowledging that the people, whose flights were abruptly cancelled or delayed, were travelling for various reasons, he said, “Thousands of you could not travel, and we are profusely apologetic about that”.

Initially, the airline’s first priority was to get “all stranded and delayed customers safely” to their destinations or back home, Elbers said, adding that “then we started our refunds”.

Lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, and the airline continues to do so on a daily basis, he said without giving any specific amount that IndiGo has released so far.

“Most of the bags stuck at airports have already been delivered back to your homes, and our teams are working very hard on delivering the remaining ones very soon. And we also continue to address all customer needs,” Elbers said.

He said that the restoration of IndiGo’s network and flights was being done on a “war footing”.

“On December 5, we could only fly 700 flights. Thereafter, gradually yet steadily improving to 1,500 on December 6, 1,650 on December 7, 1,800 on Monday and Tuesday, more than 1,800,” the CEO said.

As of Monday, the airline was flying back to all its 138 destinations in its network, he said, adding that IndiGo’s on-time performance was also back to normal.

New Delhi, Dec 09: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the opposition for questioning the need for the discussion on Vande Mataram to mark the 150 years of its formation and mentioned that the act of “avoiding discussion is not new”.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during the discussion to mark 150 years of Vande Mataram, HM Shah said, “Yesterday, many Congress members were questioning the need for the discussion on Vande Mataram and were calling it a political strategy and a way of diverting from the issues. No one is scared of discussions on the country’s issues; we are not the ones who boycott the Parliamentary sessions. If someone wants to discuss, they need to stop boycotting. All discussions will take place then; we are not scared of anything; we are not trying to hide anything. We are ready for debate on any issue.”

Stressing that the discussion is important because the country is marking the 150th anniversary of the composition of Vande Mataram, he said, “People also need to know that avoiding discussions on Vande Mataram is not new. We had not achieved Independence when Vande Mataram completed 50 years. When the golden jubilee of Vande Mataram was due in 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru reduced it into two pieces and limited the national song to two stanzas.”

He further asserted that when Vande Mataram was “limited” after it completed 50 years, that is when appeasement started.

“That appeasement led to the partition of the nation. If Congress had not divided Vande Mataram for its appeasement politics, the country would not have been divided into two. When Vande Mataram completed 100 years, everyone was awaiting the celebrations, but an Emergency was imposed. No one could glorify and raise the ‘Vande Mataram’ slogans, as everyone was imprisoned. Indira Gandhi imprisoned those who raised the slogan of Vande Mataram,” he said.

Referring to the discussions on Vande Mataram held in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the Home Minister noted that both members of the Gandhi family (Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) were absent from the House.

“Right from Jawaharlal Nehru to the current leadership, Congress continues to oppose Vande Mataram,” he added.

Slamming the Opposition, he said, “Some members raised questions in the Lok Sabha yesterday, asking why there is a need for the discussions on Vande Mataram. The need for discussion on Vande Mataram, the need for dedication towards Vande Mataram, was important back then; it is needed now, and it will always be significant for the formation of great India, which we have envisioned for 2047.”

He further called out the Opposition for linking the national song to the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections and said that “Vande Mataram is not limited to Bengal”..

“Some people think that because elections are approaching in Bengal, that is why Vande Mataram is being discussed; they want to diminish the glory of Vande Mataram by linking it to the Bengal elections,” he said.

“It is true that the composer of Vande Mataram, Bankim Babu, was from Bengal, the Anand Matth had its origin in Bengal, but Vande Mataram was not limited to Bengal or the country where it was composed. Everywhere in the world where our freedom fighters used to meet, they sang it. Today also, when our soldier at the border, or a policeman guarding the country from inside, sacrifices his life for the country, Vande Mataram is the only slogan he says as his last words.”

New Delhi, Dec 09: The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail to Sabzar Ahmad Sofi of Bijbehara, Anantnag who, on the reversal of acquittal by the J&K High Court, was taken back into custody nearly 19 years after he had been acquitted by a trial court.

Sofi had been acquitted on 5 March 2005 by the Sessions Court, Anantnag, in connection with a 2001 incident arising out of an irrigation dispute.

The trial court had held that the prosecution failed to prove its case, noting contradictions in witness testimonies and the absence of reliable corroboration.

The State appealed the acquittal in 2006, but the appeal remained undecided for almost two decades.

On 30 July 2025, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh reversed the acquittal, convicted Sofi under Section 304 Part II RPC, and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.

Following the High Court’s direction to surrender, Sofi was sent back to jail after nearly 19 years of living as a free man, a development that drew attention to the prolonged pendency of criminal appeals in the region.

Before the Supreme Court, Sofi’s legal team comprising Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat, Advocates Umair Andrabi, Tanisha, Naseer Jafri, Dilwar Barlaskar and others highlighted the discrepancies in the case.

The petition questioned the extraordinary delay of 19 years in deciding the State’s appeal, arguing that such a reversal after two decades violated the constitutional guarantee of a fair and timely process.

It also questioned the credibility of the prosecution’s primary witness, whose statements about the alleged weapon used shifted between a Liven (spade) and a Belcha (shovel), and raises inconsistencies in the alleged recovery of the tool.

The Supreme Court issued notice on the Special Leave Petition and granted Sofi interim bail, allowing him to be released while the matter is heard further.

“Learned senior counsel for the petitioner submits that out of the sentence of five years, the petitioner has already served sentence for about three years and four months. 3. Having regard to the aforesaid let the petitioner be 2 released on interim bail subject to such terms and conditions that may be imposed by the trial court,” said the top court, in its order.