Air India urination case: Woman victim moves SC for guidelines on unruly behaviour
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Mar, 2023 10:21 AM
New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) The victim in the Air India urination case has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and airline companies to frame regulations to address incidents of passenger misconduct on board aircraft, and stressed on explicit zero-tolerance policy with respect to "unruly/disruptive behaviour", which could mandate reporting to it to the law enforcement, failing which action would taken against airlines in all cases.
The petitioner also requested the apex court to direct the media to desist from reporting on criminal proceedings, to prevent further shaming and embarrassment for the 72-year-old victim and the perpetrator.
The petitioner contended that Air India along with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have failed to treat the petitioner with care and responsibility after an unruly passenger urinated on the petitioner after having been served excessive alcohol on the flight.
The plea said the wide-ranging national press reportage full of conjecture and surmises has severely undermined the petitioner's right as a victim under Article 21 of the Constitution, and in fairness also affected the rights of the accused as well.
"Their rights of free and fair trial have also been substantially affected due to the selective leaking of the AIR SEWA complaint of the petitioner, the FIR and selective witness statements being released to the media to match a specific narrative," said the plea filed through advocate Rahul Narayan.
The plea added that the incident caused the petitioner to go into shock and distress during the 12-hour long flight and the crew was both unhelpful and uncooperative.
The plea submitted that there has been a sharp rise in unruly passenger behaviour globally, as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) published a report in December 2022 urging the governments to take practical approaches regarding identifying and handling unruly passengers.
The plea added that the Civil Aviation Requirements of May 2017 (CAR) of the DGCA should consider "drunkenness" or "inebriation" on its own to be considered unruly/ disruptive behaviour on an aircraft.
"The DGCA, via CAR dated May 2017, has laid out guidelines for the handling of unruly/disruptive passengers. However, it does not have an explicit zero-tolerance policy with respect to "unruly/ disruptive behaviour". Also, these guidelines do not consider being drunk or inebriated on its own as unruly disruptive behaviour," said the plea.
The plea contended that the authorities should frame the guidelines on alcohol policy on international flights of Indian carriers to protect passengers and airline staff, including setting limits on the quantity of alcohol served, without any discrimination based on the class of travel.
For the November 26, 2022 incident, accused Shankar Mishra was arrested from Bengaluru on January 6. The Delhi Police lodged an FIR against Mishra under various sections of the IPC and section 23 of the Aircraft Act for urinating on the woman in the business class of the flight. The accused was granted bail later.
Family members of a 15-year-old girl, who died two days after getting operated at a Delhi hospital, have alleged that her organs had been removed by hospital authorities. The family alleged that after an operation of appendicitis at a hospital, in which she died, plastic bags, used for collecting urine, were found in her stomach area.
Appearing for the Centre, advocate Anurag Ahluwalia told the court that as Singh has violated Section 11A of the Foreigners Order, 1948, which prohibits a foreigner from producing any picture, film or documentary without permission in writing from the Centre, he is a blacklisted subject.
On January 13, Mishra told the court that he was not the accused. "There must be someone else who peed or it must be her who urinated," he had said. He further claimed that the woman was suffering from some prostate-related disease.
Modi said that it was perhaps the first time where Pariksha Pe Charcha was being held in such cold weather, since it is usually held in February. The PM said that the students can learn time management by observing the working style of their mothers and advised them to utilise their time properly for studies.
It has one of the fastest-growing major economies -- certainly among comparably developed and similarly sized economies. It must now be included with nations that influence the global system, the report said.
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