Man caught smoking aboard London-Mumbai Air India flight refuses bail, opts for jail
A man arrested for reportedly smoking aboard an Air India flight faces jail time after he refused a Mumbai court order to pay Rs 25,000 in bail money and instead claimed he had “searched online’ that the offence for which was charged for liable for a fine of Rs 250.
The passenger, Ratnakar Dwivedi—who was charged under section 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code after he was reportedly caught smoking in the lavatory of Air India’s London-Mumbai flight and behaving in an unruly manner on March 10—had been granted a cash bail by the court.
However, Dwivedi refused to pay the bail money of Rs 25,000 and instead told the court he would rather go to jail as he had read online that the fine payable under section 336 of the IPC is Rs 250, which he was willing to pay.
Following his refusal, the man was sent to jail by the Andheri metropolitan magistrate sent him on Monday.
Read Also: Air hostess falls to death from 4th floor in Bengaluru, boyfriend arrested
In a statement, Air India had said that Dwivedi was caught smoking in the lavatory of the London-Mumbai flight also behaved aggressively with crew members onboard despite being warned repeatedly.
The Airline in the statement said that he was handed over to security personnel upon the flight’s arrival in Mumbai, and the regulator has been duly informed of the incident, adding that Air India is extending all cooperation in the ongoing investigations.
An FIR by the Mumbai Police accuses him of causing disturbance on the flight and endangering the lives of passengers onboard, besides also disobeying the pilot’s oral and written instructions to keep calm.
Notably, civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), penalized Air India twice in January for not reporting two separate incidents of unruly passenger behaviour on its international flights.
