Court case may ground aspiring air hostesses

Mumbai: The high-flying dreams of many could just come crashing to the ground if Frankfinn Airhostess Training Institute (Fati) does not counter the police’s stand before the Bombay high court.
Additional public prosecutor Anuradha Mane last week submitted an affidavit on behalf of the Chinchwad police station that the institute runs over a 100 centres in the country “without authorisation”.
The court is hearing an anticipatory bail application filed by three Fati staff Shaikh Mubasheer Ahmed, 39, Ajit Menon, 41, and Unni Warrier, 47 after Rahul Bhatia, a student, filed a cheating complaint against the institute’s Chinchwad centre.
Bhatia, in his complaint, stated that the institute, that claims to be the world’s number one air hostess training institute, had given him a certificate after nearly nine months of completing the course. Also, he had not got placement. He stated that the certificate issued to him was that of British training education counsel national higher certificate (Btech HNC) ‘i’, while the course prospectus said it is a Btech HNC.
The anticipatory bail plea, however, states that Bhatia was told that placement was not guaranteed. “The ‘i’ denotes international. In February, Edexcel sent a letter to the investigating officer stating that Btech HNC i and Btech HNC are both qualifications issued by Edexcel,” said Ajay Kharbanda, vice-president, legal and secretarial, Fati.
07/04/10 Daily News & Analysis