A local court in Delhi on Friday refused to grant bail to Shankar Mishra, who was arrested earlier this month for allegedly urinating on a 70-year-old fellow passenger on board an Air India flight in November last year.
Additional Sessions Judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla, after noting that the investigating officer was not present for hearing, adjourned the bail petition for hearing on Monday.
The court also took in view the fact that Advocate Ankur Mahindro, Counsel of the complainant, was not supplied with a copy of the bail petition.
Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Mishra, opposed the adjournment. He further sought interim bail, stating that the absence of the investigating officer was not a fair reason for adjournment.
Gupta requested the court to list the matter for 2 pm today, so that Mahindro could go through the bail application.
However, the ASJ said he would hear the matter on Monday.
Mishra, former employee of Wells Fargo, is currently in judicial custody after Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg denied him bail on January 11.
The accused had allegedly urinated on a 70-year-old co-passenger in the business class of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26, in an inebriated condition. Delhi Police arrested Mishra from Bengaluru on January 6.
The incident came to light after a letter written by the victim to the Tata Group Chairperson, was made public.
Wells Fargo had recently fired him after noting that allegations against him were “deeply disturbing”.
A statement was also released by Mishra’s lawyers, which claimed that he had paid an agreed compensation amount to the woman on November 28, but the same was returned to him by the woman’s daughter, almost a month later on December 19.
On January 8, the court had refused to send Mishra to police custody, but remanded him to 14 days judicial custody.
The court had observed that the mere fact that there was public pressure should not sway the investigation in the case and that Mishra’s police custody would not be required.