HC rebukes police, issues notice to Uber over passenger assault case

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday issued notice to Uber India Technologies Private Limited and Uber Corporate Headquarters in the United States while hearing a matter regarding assault on a passenger by Uber cab drivers.

Justice Raghavendra Chauhan was hearing a petition filed by Dave Banerjee, a businessman who has moved the court challenging assaults inflicted on him and his friends by a group of Uber cab drivers who were present at the Uber parking bay at the city's international airport.

Banerjee has sought directions from the court that Uber incorporates appropriate safety measures in their cabs.

The petitioner's counsel, Vinay Venugopal, stated that on November 13, 2017, Banerjee and his friends had booked a Uber cab to travel from Bengaluru International Airport to his residence in Indiranagar at 9:30 pm.

The petitioner stated that during the initial part of the journey, he had discovered that the seat belt of the cab was not in order and requested the cab driver to stop so that he could adjust it. He stated that the cab driver got infuriated by his request coupled by the fact that the petitioner was not a localite and did not know the local language, the cab driver along with his friends - fellow cab drivers - assaulted the petitioner and his friends.

Thereafter, the petitioner had filed a police complaint against the accused drivers and the respondent company and an FIR was registered on November 16, 2017 at the International Airport Police Station.

The court orally observed that "If this was even a minor case of pickpocket of a politician, the accused would have been arrested immediately. But since this is a common citizen of India, no action has been taken." And that the common man begin to feel unsafe because of the inaction of the police and other authorities.

The bench asked the state to produce the case diary and all other related records of the case.

The matter was adjourned for hearing to April 2.