Air India Urination Case: SC Issues Notice On Plea By 72-Year-Old Women Seeking Protocols By Airlines To Avoid Similar Incidents

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation in the PIL filed by the 72-year-old woman who was allegedly urinated on by an unruly passenger on an Air Indian flight from New York To New Delhi. The Petition filed seeks the set up of a framework within the airline industry so that such incidents are prevented.

The Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice J.B. Pardiwala issued notice and asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist them on this case. The Bench had noted that the petition filed only sought for some protocol to be prepared and placed by the Government.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan along with Advocate-on-Record Rahul Narayan had appeared for the petitioner.

The Petitioner has stated that the intention of this petition is inspired and motivated by the interest of the general public and a sincere attempt to set up a framework so that it does not cause any additional trauma to the passengers. The Petitioner has sought the following directions from the Court: "To the Union Ministry and the DGCA to ensure CAR norms adhere to the highest standards laid down internationally; To the DGCA and the Airline companies to comply with legal requirements of SoPs, Operations Manuals and reporting protocols to be stringently followed by airline crew and staff; and To the broadcast and media organizations seeking postponement of the reportage of the criminal case presently pending;"

The Petitioner submits that "the incident caused the Petitioner to go into shock and distress during this 12-hour long flight and the crew was both unhelpful and uncooperative. Her suffering was significantly compounded as the crew coerced her to enter a "settlement" with the passenger who urinated on her. She continues to deal with the trauma of the incident."

The plea highlights that "on a single airline (Air India) there have been a number of incidents in the past involving unruly passengers. It may be noted that these incidents are culled out from those available in the public domain and yet where there had been little or no reporting to the DGCA or there had been departures from the protocols or norms that were expected to be followed."

The petitioner further adds that it is clear that many incidents are not being reported to the DGCA and that clear SoPs are not in place as far as the airlines are concerned. This is a matter of great worry for passengers, especially senior citizens, the disabled, children and other vulnerable groups who are forced in an increasingly mobile world to be thrown into situations which can cause substantial embarrassment, pain and humiliation, violating their rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, as per the petitioner.

Continuing, the plea reads that for travelling with a minimum of safety and security, positive steps need to be taken to make flying safe. "Given the high volume of unruly/disruptive behaviour which often goes unreported, it is evident that there is an awareness problem of what constitutes unruly/disruptive behaviour and a lack of enforcement to ensure that airlines are instituting and following standard operating procedures with respect to such behaviour." reads the plea.

It has also been raised that currently there are no transparent mechanisms for recourse or a system of fines and penalties when an airline is negligent or complicit when there is an incident of unruly and disruptive behaviour.

Cause Title: Hema Rajaraman Vs. Union Of India & Ors. [W.P.(C) No. 000509 - / 2023]