A public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court by the 72-year-old victim of the Air India urination case, seeking directions to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airline companies to frame regulations on how to deal with the incidents of passenger misconduct on board the aircraft. Air India Peegate: Woman seeks guidelines from Supreme Court to deal with passenger misconduct
The 72-year-old petitioner further sought directions to the media against reporting the incident since it prejudiced both the victim and the accused.
The woman alleged that the DGCA failed to treat her with care and responsibility after an unruly passenger urinated on her following consumption of excessive alcohol.
She said the rights of a free and fair trial had also been substantially affected due to selective leaking of her AIR SEWA complaint, the FIR and selective witness statements being released to the media to match a specific narrative.
The woman mentioned seven instances of passenger misconduct on board from 2014 to 2023 in her plea, alleging that the cases were not dealt with properly by the concerned airline.
Filed by Advocate Rahul Narayan, the petition contended that on March 4, 2023, a similar incident had taken place on board an American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi, wherein a 20-year-old student had urinated on a fellow male passenger. The flight operator reported the incident to Air Traffic Control, which then alerted the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The youth was arrested after the flight landed in New Delhi, it added.
The petition requested the top court of the country to issue directions to both the Central government and the DGCA to ensure that CAR norms laid down internationally were adhered to the highest standards.
It further sought directions to the DGCA and airline companies to comply with legal requirements of SoPs by airline crew and staff during such incidents, besides directions for the media to postpone reporting the pending criminal case in relation to the current incident.