The Delhi High Court, on February 25, rapped the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for advising domestic airlines to blacklist comedian Kunal Kamra pending inquiry.
According to a report by the The Indian Express, the court, while hearing a petition that was filed by the comedian, observed that the regulatory body should have looked into his complaint before taking action.
The report noted that Kamra had defended himself in court by saying he had only “politely”asked questions to Goswami in hopes of engaging in a conversation with him before the incident that led to his suspension. When this failed to elicit a response, he had indulged in, "a monologue about what he felt about his style of journalism."
The comedian also claimed that he went back to his seat within moments of the stewardess asking him to be seated. “I apologised to each crew member personally and to both the pilots, by staying back till the end, for any inconvenience that I might have caused during the flight,” he added.
Earlier in February, Kamra had sought a compensation worth Rs 25 lakh from IndiGo and sent it a legal notice asking for an unconditional apology and revocation of the travel ban.
After the incident, which took place on January 28, the airlines had put him on a no-fly list for six months. It had said in a statement, “In light of the recent incident… we wish to inform you that we are suspending Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct onboard was unacceptable behaviour.”
Following this, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had urged all other domestic carriers to take similar action against him, resulting in the comedian being put on a no-fly list by SpiceJet, GoAir, and Air India.
