Air India 'pee-gate' case: Delhi Court reserves order on bail plea of accused

A Delhi Court on Monday reserved its order on the bail application of Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on an elderly woman inside a Delhi bound Air India flight.

As reported by Bar & Bench, Additional Sessions Judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla heard all parties today before reserving his verdict. The judge also remarked that while what the accused allegedly did was disgusting, the Court will only go by the law.

The order is likely to be pronounced on Tuesday, January 31, the report added. 

This comes after Delhi's Patiala House Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of the bail application of Shankar Mishra to January 30 as the investigating officer in the case did not turn up.

Mishra applied afresh for regular bail after a magisterial court dismissed his application on January 11, saying his act had shocked the civic consciousness of people and needed to be deprecated.

The alleged act of the accused of relieving himself upon the complainant is "utterly disgusting and repulsive," the magisterial court had said while denying him bail, as per a PTI report.

Meanwhile, in a copy of the bail petition accessed by India Today, Mishra claimed that the complainant lady possibly suffers from the condition of urinary incontinence and may have involuntarily passed urine.

Mishra was arrested by Delhi Police on January 6, 2023 from Bengaluru and is presently in judicial custody.

He allegedly urinated on a 70-year-old woman in an intoxicated condition in business class of an Air India flight on November 26 last year.

Air India makes adjustments to in-flight alcohol service policy

Amid outrage over the mid-air urination incident, the airline recently said that it has reviewed its existing in-flight alcohol service policy taking reference from other carriers' practice and input from the US National Restaurants Association's (USNRA) guidelines.

"These (guidelines) were largely in line with Air India’s existing practice, though some adjustments have been made for better clarity, and NRA’s Traffic Light system included to help crew recognise and manage possible cases of intoxication," the airline added.  

According to the revised policy, guests should not be permitted to drink alcohol unless served by the cabin crew and the cabin crew be attentive to identifying guests that might be consuming their own alcohol. Service of alcoholic beverages must be carried out in a reasonable and safe manner. This includes tactfully refusing to further serve a guest alcohol.  

Air India has also issued a set of 'do's and don'ts' of service refusal. These require the cabin crew to be polite and avoid value judgements and use tact to politely inform the guest you will not serve them any more alcohol. 

Also Read: Air India fined Rs 10 lakh for not reporting peeing incident