CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke, 2 others detained on Air India plane: What we know of aviation and security rules
Three CJP leaders detained after Air India flight arrives in Delhi
Bharatmorningnews.com – Delhi Police personnel entered an Air India aircraft after it landed in the capital on Saturday morning and detained three leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), including its founder Abhijeet Dipke. The detentions came shortly before the group was expected to participate in a protest targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Dipke, along with CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, had travelled from Mumbai to Delhi for a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar. The group sought the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over alleged irregularities connected with the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls.
The incident has drawn attention to an important aviation-security question: who can enter an aircraft after it has reached its parking position, and what authority governs that access?
What happened after the aircraft landed
The Air India flight landed at 10.18am. It was subsequently directed to remote bay R12 after the airport’s Airside Operations Control Centre requested that air traffic control allocate that parking location. The change of bay was made late, while police personnel and members of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were already positioned there.
Police officers, including women officers, approached the three leaders at seats 7A, 7B and 7C. A woman sub-inspector informed Dipke that permission for the CJP protest had been refused. Video shared by the party shows Dipke responding to the officers.
“We are here to be arrested, come and arrest us,”
The CJP described the operation as a “pre-planned interception”. Dipke also said the police could have detained the leaders after they left the aircraft instead of entering the cabin.
The three were removed before other passengers disembarked and were taken from the airport through cargo gate number 6. The measure was described as one intended to protect the leaders and avoid disruption for fellow travellers.
Which agencies oversee airport and aircraft security?
India’s Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 set out a division of responsibilities among aviation-security authorities, airport operators and airlines. The rules were notified by the civil aviation ministry on August 9, 2023 under the Aircraft Act, 1934. They continue under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, which succeeded that legislation.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, or BCAS, serves as the country’s civil aviation-security regulator. Its director general carries regulatory and oversight responsibilities and can coordinate among government bodies, airports and airlines where security issues require a combined response.
At Delhi airport, the CISF is responsible for security on the ground. Its chief aerodrome security officer oversees access restrictions in protected areas, monitors the movement of people and vehicles within security-controlled zones, and coordinates with local police and intelligence agencies.
Airports and airlines also work under individual security programmes that require approval from the BCAS director general. These programmes establish the practical arrangements through which the broader rules operate at particular facilities and for particular carriers.
Access to the airport and aircraft
Rule 22 restricts entry into an aerodrome. A person ordinarily needs to be a genuine passenger, possess a valid aerodrome-entry permit or visitor admission ticket, or obtain written approval from the BCAS director general or the central government.
The rules contain a specific exception for police officers on duty when it comes to carrying weapons into an aerodrome or onto an aircraft. In this case, police officers were issued special passes allowing access to airport premises.
Control over access to the aircraft itself is addressed separately. Rule 36 places that responsibility with the airline operating the flight. The operator must regulate entry and maintain surveillance from the point at which the aircraft undergoes its security search or check until it departs.
That language is significant because it focuses largely on the period before departure. It does not expressly lay down a detailed procedure for police officers seeking to board a flight after it has completed its journey and parked at an airport stand.
Role of the pilot and special powers under the rules
The pilot-in-command has a defined role in relation to cockpit access. Airlines are required to assign responsibility for controlling entry to the cockpit to the pilot-in-command. But passenger removal is governed through a separate provision.
Rule 8 provides for assistance in taking someone off an aircraft where safety or security is at stake. The CISF chief aerodrome security officer, or an authorised Aviation Security Group officer, may assist in disembarking a person when the pilot-in-command makes a written request and identifies a risk involving the aircraft, passengers or crew.
The rule therefore starts with the pilot’s written request when removal is based on aviation safety or security concerns. It is framed around risks to the flight environment rather than as a general description of arrest procedures for passengers who have already arrived at their destination.
A later amendment created an additional power for the aviation-security regulator. Rule 29A, introduced in 2024, allows the BCAS director general to issue written directions requiring an individual or group to leave an aircraft when doing so is considered necessary in the interest of security.
Together, these provisions show that access to an aircraft is not simply an airport-policing question. It involves overlapping responsibilities: airport access control, airline control of the aircraft, CISF security functions, pilot authority in safety-related removals, and BCAS powers in security matters.
The detention of Dipke, Das and Ranka has placed those overlapping responsibilities under scrutiny, particularly because the intervention took place after landing rather than during an active flight. The episode also illustrates how decisions concerning a protest outside an airport can quickly raise questions about the limits and operation of aviation-security rules inside one.
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