Monday, March 20, 2023
Woman moves SC to postpone news broadcast on Air India urination case
In her petition, the 72-year-old woman asserted that media reportage had ‘caused immense mental agony’ to her and affected her right to live with dignity, as guaranteed by Article 21.
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| The woman requested Supreme Court to direct media to defer reporting on the incident since it prejudices both the victim and the accused | File photo/Manisha Mondal |
BHADRA SINHA, The Print, 20 March, 2023, New Delhi: The 72-year-old woman on whom a fellow passenger had urinated last year while on a New York-New Delhi Air India flight moved the Supreme Court Monday, seeking an order to postpone the “broadcast or publication” of news reports about her case.
In her petition, the woman has also blamed the airline company for “selectively” leaking different versions of the incident to the media and requested the top court to direct the press to defer reporting on the incident since it prejudices both the victim and the accused.
“A series of lapses occurred right from the leak of the petitioner’s complaint to Air India, the subsequent leak of the FIR, publication of different versions of the incident, each being more sinister than the other. Air India selectively leaked only those witness accounts that seem to align with their narrative, without considering the Petitioner’s or the Perpetrator’s rights,” the woman told the court.
Such instances, she asserted, had “caused immense mental agony” to her and affected her right to live with dignity, as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution.
The woman urged the court to not let the media report on “certain phases of the trial” of the case, including revealing her and witnesses’ identities, while quoting the apex court judgment in the case involving a dispute between Sahara and market regulator SEBI. Pressing for the “preventive relief,” the woman said it was needed to balance the rights to a fair trial and free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).
According to the woman, previous Supreme Court judgments have cautioned against “excessive media reporting” of cases under investigation or pending trial on the grounds that it is “prejudicial to the conduct of a free and fair trial.” In the interest of proper administration of justice, the courts have in the past postponed “excessive media coverage,” which, along with selective outrage by the public, has harassed all parties to the case, some of whom have faced either suspension or termination from their jobs.
“Due to an ever-increasing media presence and constant need for updates, there is a blurred boundary over the coverage of such incidents. In competition for better coverage and exclusive reports, media outlets report first and fact-check later,” she submitted, adding that due to lack of governing rules or guidelines, media outlets “have gotten a free pass on coverage of incidents, without realizing the repercussions.”
Apart from asking to regulate media reports on her case, the woman has also sought a direction to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to lay down stricter guidelines for airlines operating under it for the training of airline crew and staff and also to promote awareness regarding what constitutes unruly behavior.
She also demanded that the DGCA enumerate clearly how much alcohol is to be served to passengers and what are the remedies available to a passenger when he or she is a victim of unruly behavior by a passenger.
While talking about the harassment she allegedly faced during the flight at the hands of the cabin crew, particularly after she requested that her seat be changed, the woman said that the measures she has proposed will ensure that no other passenger is traumatised as a result of a similar incident.
She alleged that the DGCA also failed to take action in her case, while the airline too had taken it very lightly. There was inconsistency in the way the statutory body handled such complaints in the past, and many times the perpetrator went free without attracting any penal action.
Talking about how the airline attempted to “coerce” her to settle with the accused, the woman said that it shows the airlines’ standard operating procedures for dealing with “unruly, disruptive behavior may be insufficient or insufficiently enforced.”
“…the passengers travelling have a legitimate expectation that they will be safe during the course of the flight and that no untoward incident will occur. The passengers are not only bound with the flight but there is also no way to escape such unruly behavior. It, therefore, becomes imperative for the respective airline crew to be trained in handling such incidents,” the petition read.
(Edited by Tarannum Khan)
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