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.
After welcoming a large gathering of NRIs, who have arrived here from several countries to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, PM Modi said that every Indian-origin person living in foreign countries 'is brand ambassador of India'.
Besides heroin, the IGP said the police have recovered 407 kg opium, 407 kg ganja, 233 quintals of poppy husk, and 33.88 lakh tablets, capsules, injections and vials of pharma opioids. The police have also recovered Rs 7.72 crore of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers.
The woman suffered severe burns and has been admitted to RIMS, Ranchi. The FIR has been lodged on the basis of the victim's statement, against the men who are all said to be her relatives and acquaintances.
There were around 244 passengers on-board the flight which landed at Jamnagar airport at around 9.49 p.m. After receiving the bomb threat, a large number of police personnel were deployed at Dabolim airport in Goa and senior officers held a meeting over the incident.
The girl was rushed to a hospital, where her condition is stated to be out of danger, an official said. The incident occurred at Prathmik Vidyalaya, opposite Model Basti near Rani Jhansi road in Delhi.
Delhi Police had submitted before the court that the investigation was in progress and requested for extension of his judicial custody. Poonawalla, who is accused of killing his live-in partner Walkar and then chopping her body into 35 pieces is currently lodged in the Tihar jail.
