A Delhi court sentenced Shankar Mishra, an Air India passenger accused of peeing on a woman on a flight from New York to Delhi, to 14 days in judicial prison on Saturday, noting that it will follow the law and not bow to pressure from the public. A three-day police detention request made by the Delhi Police at Patiala House Court was denied by Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika, who stated: Don’t do this just because of public pressure. We’ll follow the law… This is the remand phase. He has taken part in the inquiry. Allow the facts to be known… Detention by the police is not a penalty. Police custody is justified, the court ruled.
The police requested a three-day detention, arguing that they needed the time to question the suspect, interview the crew, gather video evidence of the crime, and interview the victim. All justifications for PC (police custody) remand, the judge asserted, do not need the physical presence of the accused. Statements made by some of the crew members that IO has already recorded (investigating officer). It is possible to record the statements made by the pilot and crew. The accused need not be brought into custody by the police. He cannot be taken into custody just for the purpose of questioning him, the court declared.
Video Courtesy: ANI News
There was no material to demonstrate any more questioning is required for conducting inquiry at this level, according to the statement.Attorneys for the complainant testified before the court that the Air India crew was complicit in this case and requested that Mishra be placed in police custody because he was refusing to cooperate with the investigation, had modified his earlier statement, and had made accusations against the complainant. The accused’s disclosure statement, according to the court, was irrelevant as trial evidence. It was also implied that police custody might be an option if it were necessary at any point during the court detention.
IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) was not made out in this instance, according to the accused’s attorney Manu Sharma, who appeared on their behalf. On January 11, a motion for bail made by Mishra will be heard. Campbell Wilson, the CEO of Air India, expressed remorse for the event, announced the de-rostering of four cabin crew members and a pilot, and stated the company is evaluating its guidelines for serving alcohol on aircraft. In a statement, Wilson said, u201cAir India acknowledges that it could have handled these matters better, both in the air and on the ground and is committed to taking action.u201d
He instructed personnel to report all instances, regardless of whether a settlement was reached, as concerns had been expressed regarding the airline’s failure to immediately notify police enforcement of the disorderly passenger. The airline is looking into a number of things, such as the serving of alcohol during flights, handling of incidents, logging of complaints while travelling, and grievance handling.
Comment down below.
