The Patiala House court in Delhi on Wednesday denied bail to Shankar Mishra, the man accused of urinating on a fellow passenger onboard an Air India flight in November under the influence of alcohol. The matter was heard at length today following which the court had reserved its order.
In her order today evening, Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg termed the alleged act of the accused relieving himself upon the complainant as “utterly disgusting and repulsive”.
“Egregious conduct of the accused has shocked the civic consciousness and needs to be deprecated,” the court said in its order, adding that the alleged act in itself prima facie reflected the intention of the accused.
The court further said that the conduct of the accused does not inspire confidence and said that the possibility that he may influence the witness cannot be ruled out.
“Considering the above facts and circumstances, this court does not deem it appropriate to release the accused on bail at this stage. Accordingly, the present application stands dismissed,” the court ordered.
During the hearing today, the prosecutor, arguing on behalf of the complainant flagged the possibility of the accused influencing the complainant since he was a person of means and was highly influential. The complainant further alleged in court that the father of the accused had sent a message on WhatsApp stating that “Karma will hit me” and then deleted the message.
On the other hand, the counsel for the accused denied the allegations and pressed for bail on grounds that due procedure was not followed in Mishra’s arrest. The counsel also argued that Mishra had not made attempts to evade the inquiry process initiated by Air India. Mishra’s actions, the counsel argued, were obscene but not intended to sexually harass the victim.
Mishra was arrested by the Delhi police in Bengaluru on Friday night for having allegedly urinated on a 70-year-old woman while in an inebriated condition in November on board an Air India flight.
The incident came to light after the woman’s letter to the Tata Group chairperson was made public via the media. Mishra, who worked at Wells Fargo, was also sacked from his job after the company said that allegations against him were “deeply disturbing”.
On January 8, the court sent Mishra to police custody on January 8 but remanded him 14 days of judicial custody. Denying police custody, the court had then remarked that public pressure should not sway the investigation in the case.