A bench headed by Justice Tarun Chatterjee said the air hostesses could approach the High Court challenging the government order to withdraw the grace weight of three kg above the prescribed weight in the service manual.

The bench said the May 4, 2006, order was illegal. Appearing for the government, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium had said ‘’the service rule specifies that they will have to maintain a constant weight if they wanted to be on job.’’

Advocate Arvind Sharma, appearing for the air hostesses, said the government orders passed at various stages were illegal and arbitrary.