SC suggests authorities to modify guidelines for unruly flyers, BA

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the authorities to consider modifying the existing guidelines in accordance with the international norms to deal with unruly air passengers. A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan said something creative will have to be done.

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

The apex court asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, to instruct the concerned authorities to examine and suitably modify the guidelines on unruly passengers in line with international norms.

The bench now posted the matter for hearing after eight weeks. The court was hearing a plea filed by a 72-year-old woman who was urinated on by a man on board an Air India flight in 2022.

Hema Rajaraman sought direction that the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) to include in the CAR an explicit zero-tolerance policy with respect to “unruly/disruptive behaviour”, which would mandate reporting to it and to law enforcement, failing which action would be taken against the airlines in all cases.

Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA to solicit the SoPs and the Operations Manuals as required under the law from the airline companies laying down procedures for handling unruly/ disruptive behaviour in airports and on aircraft, and to ensure that the same comply with the DGCA norms.

Accused Shankar Mishra was arrested from Bengaluru on January 6 for the incident of November 26, 2022, for urinating on a woman in the business class of the flight. The accused was granted bail later.

The plea said that in fact, the cabin crew “facilitated” the handing over of her mobile phone number to the man in order for him to “reimburse the cost of shoes, dry-cleaning, etc.”

She was made to sit on the “very same seat that was wet and smelled of urine,” it added.

The plea also mentioned that her suffering was compounded when the crew “coerced her to enter into a settlement with the passenger who urinated on her”.

“She continues to deal with the trauma of the incident,” it said.

The plea sought direction from the Ministry and DGCA to “set guidelines on alcohol policy on international flights of Indian carriers to protect passengers and airline staff, including setting limits on the quantity of alcohol served, without any discrimination based on the class of travel.”

“Direct DGCA to amend its Passenger Charter to include the rights and recourse for passengers subject to any sort of abuse by staff passengers, which should include redressal mechanisms for victims via an Ombudsman and also parameters of compensation,” added the plea.

The petition referred to the statistics tabled in the Rajya Sabha on February 6, which show that only 63 unruly passengers were put on the ‘No Fly’ lists.

“There would be numerous more incidents with no action taken, said the plea, adding, “With the world’s third highest air traffic, and with 132 airports, India needs to ensure that its passengers, both domestic and foreign can travel with a minimum of safety and security. Particularly with 150 million senior citizens forming a sizeable vulnerable group, positive steps need to be taken to make flying safe.”

The plea also highlighted how media reports on the incident concerning her were “full of conjectures and surmises”.

She asked the court to consider how media reports based on conjectures may affect sub-judice cases in the absence of clear guidelines.