The Supreme Court issued notice on Monday to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on a petition filed by a 72-year-old woman seeking directions to the DGCA and airline companies to frame regulations to deal with passenger misconduct on aircraft.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice on the petition filed by the victim of the Air India urination case and listed the matter for further hearing in the month of July.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioner, contended that DGCA failed to treat the petitioner with care and responsibility after an unruly passenger urinated on her following excessive alcohol consumption.
The Senior Counsel mentioned seven instances of passenger misconduct on board from 2014 to 2023, which were not dealt with properly by the concerned airline.
He said on March 4, 2023, a similar incident occurred when a passenger, in an inebriated state, urinated on an American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi. The flight operator informed Air Traffic Control, which then alerted the Central Industrial Security Force, leading to the arrest of the individual upon disembarking, he added.
The petitioner prayed the Apex Court to issue directions to both the Union of India and the DGCA, so as to ensure that CAR norms were adhered to the highest standards laid down internationally.
The petitioner sought directions to the DGCA and airline companies to comply with legal requirements of SoPs by airline crew and staff during such incidents.
The petitioner further asked the top court of the country to issue directions for the media, asking it to postpone reportage of the pending criminal case in relation to the current incident.
On November 26, 2022, a fellow passenger who was in an inebriated state had urinated on the petitioner during an international flight. The incident was brought to light after the woman wrote a letter to the Chairperson of the Tata Group, which later got space in the media.
Accused Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police in Bengaluru on January 6, 2022. Wells Fargo, which was Mishra’s employer, subsequently released a statement that the allegations against him were “deeply disturbing,” leading to his dismissal from the job.
The High Court of Delhi had directed the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in March to constitute an appellate committee within two weeks to hear Mishra’s appeal against the order designating him as an ‘unruly passenger’ and banning him from flying for four months.