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In Air India urination case, Supreme Court argues for changing guidelines to deal with unruly passengers
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In Air India urination case, Supreme Court argues for changing guidelines to deal with unruly passengers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed authorities to review and accordingly amend the guidelines relating to unruly passengers on flights, keeping in mind international norms.

The top court today asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati to direct the authorities concerned to review and amend the guidelines regarding unruly passengers accordingly.

The top court was hearing a petition seeking adequate protocols to deal with cases involving inappropriate behavior by passengers on board aircraft. The plea was made by a 72-year-old woman who was urinated on by a drunk man on board an Air India flight in 2022.

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The man who was later identified as Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru. After the news went viral, Mishra was also fired from his job by Wells Fargo.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan, while hearing the case today, called for creative ways to deal with unruly air passengers.

“We will have to do something creative,” remarked the magistrate.

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Justice Viswanathan also cited one of his personal experiences with a drunken passenger on a flight. He shared that while he was on a flight with another Supreme Court judge, Justice Surya Kant, they had two drunk male passengers on the same flight. He remembers one of the drunken men locking himself in the toilet and sleeping there. Eventually, a co-passenger had to step in to open the door, as the flight and crew were all female.

In 2023, the Delhi High Court had ordered the DGCA 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.