The Patiala House Court in Delhi on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail application of Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on an elderly woman co-passenger on an Air India flight on November 26 last year, reported PTI.
Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg reserved the order on the bail plea on grounds that the act was not driven by sexual desire nor was it aimed at outraging the complainant’s modesty.
Mishra, who allegedly urinated on a co-passenger in a drunken state onboard the New York-Delhi flight, was arrested on Saturday in Bengaluru by the Delhi Police with the assistance of the Central Crime Branch police in the city.
He was booked on Wednesday under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (sexual harassment), 294 (obscene act), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) and section 23 of Air Craft Rules, 1937, reported The Indian Express.
Mishra’s counsel advocate Manu Sharma told the court that “unzipping was not for sexual desire”, and that he was sacked from the job after the allegations.
Sharma was sacked by US financial services company Wells Fargo, the company had said in a statement on Friday, and called the allegations “deeply disturbing”.
“I couldn’t control my drink but the unzipping was not for sexual desire. The complainant’s case does not put him as a lustful man. The trial will take time but the man has been sacked from his job after these allegations. He is not at flight risk,” Mishra’s lawyer said, as quoted by ANI.
“My client has clearly and willingly participated in any inquiries related to the alleged event, with the intention to establish his innocence and will continue to act in this bona fide manner and assist the police in the investigation,” Sharma added.
Meanwhile, the complainant’s counsel opposed Mishra’s bail application, claiming she was being threatened.
“I’m regularly receiving messages, threatening me. Accused’s father sent me a message and said ‘karma will hit you’ and then deleted the message. They’re sending me messages and deleting it. This needs to stop… Air India instead of separating the accused and complainant, tried to mediate the crime,” the counsel said.
Delhi Police also opposed the bail plea of Mishra, saying that if he is out on bail, he can influence the complainant, as he was from rich and influential background.
Earlier, on Saturday, a magisterial court had sent Mishra to 14-day judicial remand denying police his custody.