SC Judge Recalls 'Incident Involving Two Drunk Passengers On Flight, One Locked Himself in Toilet'

Supreme Court Justice KV Viswanathan recounted an incident with unruly flyers while hearing a plea about a 2022 Air India urination case involving a woman.

New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice KV Vishwanathan on Tuesday recalled an incident involving two drunk passengers on a flight, which he had taken, along with another judge of the top court Justice Surya Kant. Justice Viswanathan, while hearing a plea seeking measures to deal with unruly flyers, narrated the event. The apex 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.

Justice Viswanathan said, "Recently, when I and Justice Surya Kant were flying, there were two totally drunk male passengers. “One locked himself in the toilet and slept while the other went out with a vomit bag. All-women crew. So, they did not open the toilet so one of my co-passengers had to," added Justice Vishwanathan.

The apex court emphasised on formulating creative ways to deal with unruly air passengers, and asked the authorities concerned to consider modifying the existing guidelines in accordance with the international norms. The bench said, "Something creative will have to be done. Maybe strategic seating or something…”.

The bench deferred the hearing on the matter by two months. The apex court also asked the additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati to instruct the authorities to examine and suitably modify the guidelines on unruly passengers. The petitioner had also sought strict guidelines to control unruly on-flight conduct by passengers, especially drunken behaviour or intoxication-related ruckus. The apex court last year sought suggestions from the DGCA. Shankar Mishra was accused of urinating on the woman co-passenger on the Air India flight from New York to Delhi. The incident occurred in the business class of the Air India flight.