Delhi HC Disposes Of Comedian Kunal Kamra's Plea Challenging Fly Ban

Comedian Kunal Kamra, who was suspended from flying for heckling journalist Arnab Goswami during a flight and making a video of the incident, had earlier issued a legal notice to Indigo Airlines.

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition, filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, challenging his suspension from flying with the Indigo Airlines for a period of six months. A bench of Justice Naveen Chawla said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) should decide on Kamra's representation dated February 20 against the airline within a period of eight weeks. The court had earlier asked the aviation body whether they could refuse to look into the complaint made by Kamra and sought clarification on its stand in the cases where airlines have allegedly flouted the Civil Aviation Rules (CAR). Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha, representing Kamra, had said that the ban imposed on his client was in violation of the CAR. DGCA, on the other hand, had told the court that Kamra's petition was not maintainable and that the body was merely a regulator and not an adjudicator. Apart from existing parties in the case -- DGCA and IndiGo, Delhi High Court also impleaded Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir as parties in Kamra's plea. The stand-up comedian had filed a petition seeking directions to DGCA to revoke the flight ban and has challenged the internal inquiry committee set up by Indigo to look into the allegations against him. Kamra, who was suspended from flying for heckling journalist Arnab Goswami during a flight and making a video of the incident, had earlier issued a legal notice to Indigo Airlines demanding a sum of Rs 25 lakh for the mental pain and losses incurred and an unconditional apology. After Kamra was barred from flying by Indigo, Air India, Spicejet, and GoAir also followed suit and imposed a suspension on him.