The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed Director General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) to constitute an appellate committee within two weeks'
time to examine Shankar Mishra's appeal against Air India designating
him an "unruly passenger" and banning him from flying for four
months.
Mishra accused of urinating on an elderly female
co-passenger on a New York-Delhi Air India flight, recently moved the
High Court seeking constitution of an appellate committee to hear his appeal.
The court has asked the DGCA appellate
committee to hold its first meeting on April 20 to hear Mishra's plea.
It also directed the petitioner Mishra to file an
appeal in two weeks.
During the hearing, a single-judge bench of Justice
Prathiba M. Singh remarked that considering the facts of the case, the
authorities have taken a very empathetic view in the matter.
In the last hearing, the DGCA counsel had
stated that the committee is already in place.
The court had then asked the DGCA counsel to
place the constitution of the appellate committee before the court within a
week's time.
Mishra, who was arrested by the Delhi Police from
Bengaluru on January 7 for allegedly urinating on a 70-year-old woman while in
a drunken state on a flight last November, was granted bail on January 31 by
national capital's Patiala House Court.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Harjyot Singh Bhalla
had granted bail on the bail bond of Rs 1 lakh.
He had said that what Mishra has allegedly done is
disgusting but the court is bound to follow the law.
Mishra has claimed in his plea where DGCA, Ministry of
Civil Aviation and Air India have been made respondents, that on
December 20, 2022, the complainant woman filed a complaint against him on the
Airsewa grievance portal.
Air India established an internal inquiry committee in
response to the accusation. The committee issued an order on January 18, 2023,
identifying him as a "unruly passenger" and banning him from flying
for four months.
According to the petition, paragraph 8.5 of the Civil
Aviation Requirements (CAR) for Handling Unruly Passengers provides that anyone
who is unhappy with an inquiry committee's decision may file an appeal before
an appellate committee established by the ministry of civil aviation within 60
days of the decision.
"The Petitioner, being aggrieved by the order
dated 18.01.2023 on grounds of the aforementioned factual and legal infirmities
seeks to prefer an appeal against the said order and has written emails to the
DGCA [Director General of Civil Aviation] on 19.01.2023 and to the Ministry of
Civil Aviation on 20.02.2023, 27.02.2023 and 06.03.2023. However, no such
committee has been constituted as of the date of filing this Writ
Petition," the plea stated.
The plea further said that it is an established
position of law that a statutory right of appeal is a vested right and the
non-constitution of the appellate committee by the Ministry of Civil Aviation
is eroding his right to exhaust all his remedies available unto him.
"As such, the Ministry of Civil Aviation's
inaction is directly infringing the Petitioner's rights under Article 21 of the
Constitution," it was said.