Victor Joynath De: Moustache man

Retired flight purser Victor Joynath De has lost an eight-year fight for the right to sport a handlebar moustache at work. His former employer Indian (airline) had punished him for refusing to trim his moustache.

A Calcutta High Court division bench of Justice Asim Banerjee and Justice Tapas Giri ruled on Friday in favour of an appeal by Indian against an earlier order by a single judge bench.

De, a purser with Indian, was first grounded and then forced to retire on January 11, 2001 — at the age of 55, three years before he was scheduled to retire — after he refused to trim his moustache.

On August 2002, Justice Alok Chakraborty of the high court had ruled that De could keep his moustache and fly as a crew member.

In Friday’s order, however, the division bench observed that flight personnel should obey the rules framed by the employers.

“This judgment is a victory for the discipline the company represents. Flying crewmen should have a uniformity in appearance,” said counsel for Indian, R.N. Majumdar, after Friday’s verdict.

However, De is not willing to give up on his “right” to sport a moustache at work. He claimed that sporting a moustache is part of his family’s tradition. The man from Elliot Road is planning to move the Supreme Court against the division bench order.