In the case of Jibi James v. Union of India, a request has been made to the Kerala High Court for Indigo Airlines to take action against Malayalam actor Vinayakan for allegedly abusing a co-passenger on a flight operated by the airline.
On Tuesday, when Justice PV Kunhikrishanan was looking over the case, he told the petitioner’s lawyer, advocate V John Mani, to name Vinayakan as a respondent in the petition.
The co-passenger, who was allegedly abused by Vinayakan while waiting to board the in question Indigo flight, made the plea.
According to the petitioner, he noticed a rush at the boarding bridge while he was waiting at the Goa Airport during his layover between Indigo Airlines flights from Chandigarh to Kochi.
He claimed that Vinayakan, who was also boarding the same flight, started abusing him while he was watching a video, accusing him of shooting the actor’s video.
The petitioner argued that Vinayakan continued to abuse him despite his explanation that he did not record any footage and his offer to let the actor check his phone.
“It appeared that he (Vinayakan) was drunk and was behaving in an unruly manner,” the plea claimed. The petitioner, aggrieved by Vinayakan’s humiliation and mental harassment, attempted to write a y to Indigo Airlines’ Kochi office, the plea claimed.
However, Indigo Airlines responded by stating that once the passenger had boarded the flight, they were powerless to intervene.
The petitioner’s representation before the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation through the Airsewa portal was closed with a response from Indigo Airlines’ Customer Experience Expert stating that they have limited role once the passenger is off the flight, according to the plea.
As a result, the petitioner made an application to the High Court, requesting that Indigo Airlines and the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation be instructed to take into consideration his complaint and representation within a specified time frame.
Name -Sandeep K. Pareek, BALLB(2nd sem.), RNB Global University intern under legal vidhiya