NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Patiala House court on Tuesday granted bail to Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on an elderly woman on-board an Air India flight last November. The court had reserved its order on a bail petition by Mishra on Monday.
Hearing the appeal filed by the accused on Tuesday against an order of a magisterial court that had denied him bail, Additional Sessions Judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla granted him relief on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. He noted that what Mishra allegedly did is disgusting but the court was bound to follow the law.
Appearing for Mishra, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta said that earlier, his client’s bail plea was denied as the investigation was pending but now it is over.
“Now the investigation is over and police have interrogated the crew members and witnesses,” he said.
Earlier, Mishra had claimed that the complainant had herself soiled her seat. On January 13, Mishra told the court, “There must be someone else who peed or it must be the lady herself who urinated.” He had claimed that the woman was suffering from some issue as she was a classical dancer. But the woman had rubbished the allegation saying that it was “completely false and concocted”.
On January 19, Air India had banned Mishra from flying for four months. “The passenger has been put on the airline’s ‘No Fly List’ … Air India will also be intimating other airlines operating in the country about this,” a spokesperson had said.
Hearing the appeal filed by the accused on Tuesday against an order of a magisterial court that had denied him bail, Additional Sessions Judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla granted him relief on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. He noted that what Mishra allegedly did is disgusting but the court was bound to follow the law.
Appearing for Mishra, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta said that earlier, his client’s bail plea was denied as the investigation was pending but now it is over.
“Now the investigation is over and police have interrogated the crew members and witnesses,” he said.
Earlier, Mishra had claimed that the complainant had herself soiled her seat. On January 13, Mishra told the court, “There must be someone else who peed or it must be the lady herself who urinated.” He had claimed that the woman was suffering from some issue as she was a classical dancer. But the woman had rubbished the allegation saying that it was “completely false and concocted”.
On January 19, Air India had banned Mishra from flying for four months. “The passenger has been put on the airline’s ‘No Fly List’ … Air India will also be intimating other airlines operating in the country about this,” a spokesperson had said.
The urinating incident happened on November 26, 2022, in the business class of a New York-Delhi flight when Mishra allegedly relieved himself on a 70-year-old co-passenger in an inebriated condition. After the matter came to light, Air India had constituted an internal committee to look into the lapses by the crew. Sources said that the airline submitted the internal report on January 19.
The Delhi police had registered an FIR against Mishra under sections 354, 509 and 510 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act on January 4 on the basis of a complaint lodged by the woman with Air India. Mishra was arrested in Bengaluru by the Delhi police on January 6.
(with agency inputs)
