Air India urination case: Supreme Court calls for creative ways to deal with unruly air passengers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday called for creative ways to deal with unruly air passengers, while asking the authorities to consider modifying the existing guidelines in accordance with the international norms (Hema Rajaraman v Union of India and Ors)

A Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan was hearing a plea moved by a 72-year-old woman who was urinated on by a man on board an Air India flight in 2022.

"Something creative will have to be done. May be strategic seating or something," the Court remarked.

During the hearing, Justice Viswanathan recalled an incident involving drunk passengers on a flight he had taken along with another Supreme Court judge, Justice Surya Kant.

"Recently when me and Justice Surya Kant were flying, there were two totally drunk male passengers. One locked himself in toilet and slept while other went out with vomit bag. All-women crew. So they did not open the toilet so one of my co-passengers had to," the judge revealed.

While adjourning the matter for eight weeks, the Court asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to instruct the concerned authorities to examine and suitably modify the guidelines on unruly passengers, in line with international norms.

The top court in May last year had sought the response of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to the 72-year-old's plea for directions to frame regulations to deal with passenger misconduct on aircraft.

A fellow passenger who was in an inebriated state had urinated on the petitioner during an international flight on November 26, 2022.

The incident was brought to light after the woman's letter to the Chairperson of the Tata Group made it to the media.

The accused, Shankar Mishra, was later arrested by the Delhi Police in Bengaluru. Wells Fargo, which was Mishra's employer, subsequently released a statement that the allegations against him were "deeply disturbing". He was dismissed from the job.

In March last year, the Delhi High Court had directed 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.