Shankar Mishra, the accused in the Air India urinating case, has approached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday to form an appellate committee to hear his appeal against the ruling issued by the airline’s investigative committee labelling him a “unruly passenger” and barring him from flying for four months.
Mishra, who was granted bail by a trial court in January, is accused of urinating on an elderly woman aboard an Air India trip from New York to Delhi in November of last year.
While the counsel representing the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) submitted before Judge Prathiba M Singh that the appellate committee was already in existence, the court directed the counsel to produce the committee’s constitution within one week.
The case is listed for further hearing on March 23, 2023.
Mishra claims in the suit filed by Advocates Akshat Bajpai, Ishanee Sharma, Shobhit Trehan, and Renuka Parmananda that the investigation committee’s ruling has “factual and legal flaws” and entirely misunderstands the physical layout of the aircraft.
According to Mishra, despite having sent emails to the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation opposing the investigation committee’s decision, no appellate body has been formed to hear his appeal.
“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 degrading the petitioner’s right to exhaust all his remedies open unto him as per the legal procedure set by law. As a result, the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s inactivity directly violates the petitioner’s rights under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the plea stated.
Mishra has sought a directive to form an appellate committee as soon as possible in compliance with Rule 8.3 of the “Civil Aviation Regulations for Unruly Passengers” released in September 2019.
The petition also seeks a direction that the 60-day time for filing an appeal, as per the requirements, commence on the day of notification of the Appellate Committee’s formation.
