An Air India Captain, who was suspended after being found guilty of misconduct, has been reinstated as an instructor, a senior official said on Sunday.
Captain Sachin Gupta, who was accused of sexual harassment last year, was found guilty of misconduct and "major penalty" as per the company service regulation were imposed against him.
"The Internal Complaints Committee ( ICC) of Air India conducted the enquiry proceedings and found Captain Sachin Gupta guilty of the charges of misconduct. The immediate competent disciplinary authority has imposed major penalty as per the company service regulation," Air India's regional director PS Negi said in a statement.
However, the regional director said that Gupta has now appealed to the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) against the punishment.
"The said appeal on merit will be examined and considered by the competent appellate authority in due course of time," Negi said.
Last year, Air India had set up an enquiry against the senior captain on sexual harassment allegations after receiving a complaint from a woman pilot.
A spokesperson said that the woman pilot in her complaint to the airline's management stated that the accused asked her several inappropriate questions.
In her complaint, she had stated, "The instructor reportedly suggested the two to have dinner at a city restaurant in Hyderabad on May 5 after the training session was over. I agreed as I had done a few flights with him and he seemed decent. We went to a restaurant at around 8 pm and this is where my ordeal started."
"He started telling me how depressed and unhappy he was in his married life. He also asked me how I coped with my husband living away and whether I didn't need to have sex every day... At some point, I told him I did not want to talk about all this and called a cab," read the complaint from the woman pilot.
( With inputs from ANI )