With four Indian airlines banning stand-up comic Kunal Kamra from flying with them for allegedly heckling a TV news anchor on board an IndiGo flight, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday said the action by the carriers is in complete consonance with its regulations.
“This is to reiterate that the action taken by the airlines is in complete consonance with Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section-3, Series M Part VI on the handling of unruly passengers.” a DGCA statement said.
It further stated that an internal committee will give a decision in 30 days by giving reasons in writing, which shall be binding on the airline concerned.
“Now the matter is to be referred to the internal committee as prescribed in para 6.1 of the said CAR. Further, as per para 6.4 of the CAR, the internal committee is to give the final decision in 30 days by giving the reasons in writing, which shall be binding on the airline concerned. Punishment for different type of unruly behaviour is also prescribed in the same CAR and the internal committee has to adhere to the same,” it said.
Interestingly, the DGCA’s statement came hours after its director general Arun Kumar purportedly told HuffPost that the ban announced on Kamra was a “clear violation” of its rules regarding the handling of unruly passengers. The DGCA tweeted that the report had “misquoted/misrepresented the facts” stated by Arun Kumar.
While SpiceJet, Air India and GoAir have banned Kamra “till further notice”, IndiGo has suspended Kunal Kamra from flying with it for six months.
Famous stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is barred by the four passenger airlines from flying for “unacceptable behaviour” onboard.
It has been alleged that Kamra while travelling on a Mumbai-Lucknow IndiGo flight recently, provoked a TV news anchor by asking questions over news presentation style.
The Mumbai-based comedian who is known for being critical of BJP government polices, Kamra posted a video of him confronting an editor-in-chief of a TV channel while on flight, on Tuesday.