Air India's Independent Internal Committee bans Shankar Mishra from flying for four months
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jan, 2023 11:38 AM
New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) The Independent Internal Committee probing the Air India peeing incident concluded that Shankar Mishra is covered under the definition of "unruly passenger" and is banned from flying for a period of four months.
An Air India spokesperson on Thursday said, "The independent three-member Internal Committee under the Chairmanship of the former District Judge has concluded that Shankar Mishra is covered under the definition of "unruly passenger" and is banned from flying for a period of 4 months as per the relevant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR)."
The airline said that it will inform the regulator and other airlines accordingly. "The passenger has already been put on the airline's "No Fly List". Air India has shared a copy of the Internal Committee report with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and will also be intimating other airlines operating in the country."
After the renewed ban by Air India, other airlines can take their own decision on whether any ban should be imposed on the individual.
Earlier, the DGCA had asked the airline to refer the incident to the Internal Committee which will decide the duration of the ban on flying of the unruly passenger within 30 days. The Internal Committee comprised three members including a retired district and sessions judge as Chairman, a representative from a different scheduled airline as member, and a representative from a passengers association or consumer association or retired officer of the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum as member.
The incident occurred on November 26 last year when the drunk passenger allegedly urinated on a co-passenger in her 70s in the business class of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi.
Aviation regulator DGCA on January 5 had said that the conduct of Air India was unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure. The aviation regulator has noted that the incident of passenger misbehaviour with a female co-passenger was reported to it too late on January 4 while it took place on November 26. The DGCA also issued show cause notices to senior Air India executives and pilots and cabin crew of the flight.
Currently, the matter lies with the court and the case has witnessed many twists in the last couple of days. Shankar Mishra was arrested from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi where the case against him was registered.
The top court was hearing a bail plea filed by Ashish Mishra. During the hearing, the top court asked the Uttar Pradesh government counsel to confirm whether four accused in a separate case lodged over the killing of three occupants of the car, which allegedly mowed down farmers, are still in custody. The bench scheduled the matter for further hearing on January 19.
The Chief Minister, who visited the house of the martyr at his native village in Gurdaspur district, handed over a cheque for Rs 2 crore, including Rs 1 crore ex gratia by state government and Rs 1 crore of life insurance by HDFC Bank, to the distressed family as a mark of respect for his supreme sacrifice for the country.
Kashmir police tweeted: "During Naka checking at Braripora Handwara, Police apprehended one Syed Irfan Abdullah resident of Laribal, Handwara and recovered cash amounting to Rs 57.43 lakhs concealed in a geyser.
Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on an elderly female co-passenger in a drunken state on a New York-New Delhi Air India flight in November last year, told a Delhi court on Wednesday through his lawyer that 'unzipping' his pants was not for the purpose of 'sexual desire', and hence he cannot be considered as a 'lustful' man.
On January 6, Poonawala moved an application in the court seeking release of his debit and credit cards, citing need for funds to purchase day-to-day items, as well as warm clothes. Shukla had extended his judicial custody for four more days and ordered to physically produce him in the court on January 10.
Next day after all the parcels were counted, they realised that from a total 719 parcels, 667 parcels were intact. The robbers had stolen items from 52 parcels, like laptops, tablets, 259 mobile phones, headphones, wrist watches and print rolls worth Rs one crore.
