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FIR filed against Sena MP Gaikwad; airlines shut doors on him

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association also condemned Gaikwad’s act and demanded police action against him

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A day after Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP) Ravindra Gaikwad assaulted an Air India (AI) staffer, he was banned from flying by every Indian air carrier. In a first-of-its-kind decision, the entire aviation industry decided to bar Gaikwad from flying “with immediate effect”. The Delhi police have registered an FIR against Gaikwad.

On Friday, AI cancelled the MP’s ticket to fly from Delhi to Pune; so did Indigo, after the politician tried his luck with the private carrier. He was left with no option but to take a train.

Gaikwad boarded the August Kranti Rajdhani express for Mumbai on Friday evening from Nizamuddin railway station. Sources said that Gaikwad complained of chest pain during the journey and got off at Mathura station. Later, however,  he boarded the same train and continued journey.  

While cancelling Gaikwad’s return ticket, AI said it anticipated a backlash from employees, if the MP was allowed to fly. Gaikwad was booked AI 849, scheduled for departure at 4pm on Friday. Other carriers such as Jet, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air Asia, Vistara, and GoAir followed suit.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which has Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and GoAir as its members, issued a statement on behalf of the airlines, announcing that it has taken a “strong view of the incident and accordingly taken a decision to bar Gaikwad from flying”. AirAsia and Vistara issued similar statements, extending full support to AI and FIA’s decision to ban Gaikwad. The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) also condemned Gaikwad’s act and demanded police action against him. Besides, it sought an unconditional apology from Maharashtra’s Osmanabad MP.

An unrepentant Gaikwad, however, maintained that he would not apologise to Sukumar, the AI staffer whom he assaulted, and instead said that he will file a defamation case against the AI CMD and Sukumar, if they do not apologise for bringing “ignominy” to him.

Interestingly, Gaikwad’s flying ban might pave way for the long-pending reforms in the aviation industry, with the Indian carriers announcing that they would soon come up with a ‘no-fly list’ of unruly passengers.

Sources, however, said that guidelines for creation of this list might take some time as, at present, there is no uniform definition of an unruly passenger.

They further told DNA that though Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, had been advocating a ‘no-fly list’ for quite a while now, there has been ambiguity over whether different airlines would have different ‘no-fly lists’ or will there be just one such list.

Meanwhile, condemning the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju said: “Action has to be taken and we will do it. I am also an MP. We are not above the law and have to follow the law of the land.”

Soon after Raju’s remarks, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Gaikwad. “A case has been registered under Sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). We are transferring the case to the Crime Branch for a thorough probe,” Special Commissioner of Police Dependra Pathak said.

Reacting to the incident, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told reporters outside the Parliament that she cannot take suo motu action and will take a call, if the case is brought to her notice in the House. Sharp criticism of Gaikwad poured in from leaders across the political spectrum, who termed his behaviour as “condemnable” and demanded strict action against him. From BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge and NCP’s Praful Patel, all criticised the MP.

MPs meet to discuss way forward

After news trickled in that Air India (AI) has filed an FIR against Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, a day after he assaulted a senior AI employee, the MP met with his colleagues at Arvind Sawant’s residence in the Capital on Friday. According to sources, five of Sena’s 18 MPs -- Shrirang Barne, Shrikant Shinde, Rahul Shewale, Gaikwad, and Sawant -- were present during the meeting to discuss the way forward to deal with the situation, including legal options.

Some MPs, however, denied that any such meeting took place. Speaking to DNA, Sawant said: “No such meeting took place and we cannot tell the media every little thing that happens. Uddhavji has sought explanation on the matter and we will attend to that. It is an internal matter of the party and the media need not interfere and worry over it. Let authorities investigate before the media trial.”

Shinde, though, confirmed that the meeting took place. “Yes, we met for breakfast but nothing was discussed regarding Gaikwadji,” he said.

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