On Saturday, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia promised swift action in the case of a man who is accused of urinating on a female co-passenger on a New York-Mumbai flight last November. The accused, Shankar Mishra, was taken into custody by the Delhi Police earlier in the day. The claimed incident took place on November 26 last year on an AI flight from New York to Mumbai.
“Further action will be taken expeditiously once the ongoing proceedings are completed,” Scindia told reporters here without elaborating.
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On Saturday, a Delhi judge rejected the police’s request to take Shankar Mishra into custody and instead ordered him to be kept in judicial custody for 14 days. Shankar is accused of urinating on a female co-passenger on an Air India flight. The authorities requested a three-day hold on him so that they could interrogate him in custody. He claimed that he had to be identified by three members of the cabin staff, two captains and other passengers.
Mishra was sentenced to judicial remand by Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika after he said that the police had not sought his custody to record the testimony of other witnesses, including cabin crew and fellow passengers. The judge said, “Just because there is public pressure, don’t do it. Follow the law.”
“All the above reasons…. PC is not required for recording the statement of witnesses. They can be examined in their absence. Statements can be recorded and there is no need for their PC. The court observed that On the basis of evidence, the accused prima facie did not cooperate in the investigation.
“Perusal of the record reveals that the accused was deliberately avoiding joining the investigation. His custody is not required for conducting further investigation, recording statements of the crew members, ”said the judge