1 year ago
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NEW DELHI: Air India has banned
Shankar Mishra
, accused of urinating on an elderly woman on-board a flight last November, from flying for four months, the airline said on Thursday.
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.
The carrier had earlier announced a month's
ban
on Mishra after incident came to light, saying an airline can only ban an unruly passenger for 30 days unilaterally, before consulting civil aviation ministry. "As a first step, Air India has banned the passenger for 30 days, the maximum it is permitted to unilaterally do so, and reported the matter to the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) for further action," the airline had said.
Sources said that the airline submitted an internal report in connection with the case on Thursday. Air India had constituted an internal committee to look into the lapses by the crew. It had also de-rostered four cabin crew members and a pilot of the New York-Delhi AI 102 flight after the DGCA issued show-cause notices to the carrier, its director of in-flight services and the crew that had operated the international flight.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police had registered a First Information Report against Mishra on January 4 following a complaint of the woman to Air India, under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act. He was arrested from Bengaluru on January 6, 2023, and is currently in judicial custody after a Delhi court denied him bail last week.
Mishra, however, in a counter has said that the 70-year-old woman urinated on herself. "I did not urinate on the complainant. The complainant woman's seat was blocked. The woman has a problem of incontinence because she is a Kathak dancer and 80 per cent of dancers face this issue," he had said in his defence in the court.
The complainant in the Air India "urination" case has rubbished claims made by the accused Shankar
Mishra
, saying it is being done with the intent to spread misinformation and further harassment.
Mishra, who was a vice-president at US-based financial services company Wells Fargo, has also been terminated from the firm. "Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behaviour and we find these allegations deeply disturbing. This individual has been terminated from Wells Fargo," the company had said.
(With inputs from agencies)
English (US) ·