Metropolitan magistrate Komal Garg, Delhi’s Patiala House Courts, slammed Shankar Mishra – accused of urinating on an elderly woman co-passenger on an Air India flight – while denying bail to him on Wednesday and called the act “utterly disgusting and repulsive”.
“The alleged act of accused of relieving himself upon the complainant is utterly disgusting and repulsive. The alleged act in itself is sufficient to outrage the modesty of any woman. Egregious conduct of the accused has shocked the civic consciousness and needs to be deprecated,” news agency PTI quoted the judge as saying.
Garg also said the alleged act in itself prima facie reflects the intention of the accused, who is lodged in a Delhi jail.
The judge also underlined that as per the record, Mishra had failed to join the probe even after a notice was issued to him under section 41A CrPC and his presence could be secured only upon the execution of the non-bailable warrant, PTI added.
“Therefore, the conduct of the accused does not inspire confidence. It has also come on record that accused has tried contacting the victim and the possibility of accused influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out,” the judge observed.
Noting that the probe is at a very initial stage, the judge said, “This court does not deem it appropriate to release the accused on bail at this stage. Accordingly, the present application stands dismissed.”
The Air India alleged urination incident had occurred on November 26 last year when a drunk Mishra walked up to the woman’s seat in the business class on a New York-New Delhi flight, exposed himself and urinated on her.
Earlier, Mishra’s counsel Manu Sharma argued that the act was not driven by sexual desire nor aimed at outraging the complainant’s modesty.
Advocate Mahindro appearing for the complainant, however, opposed the bail application stating that Mishra is an influential person and can pressurise the complainant if released on bail.
He also pointed out that Mishra’s father sent the complainant a WhatsApp message on the day Mishra was arrested, but later deleted it.
The contents of the text message are not known.
Mishra’s advocate, however, opposed the accusation stating, the allegations were “completely baseless”. He said, “This is not his (Mishra’s) father’s number. ”
A magisterial court had sent Mishra to 14-day judicial remand on Saturday, denying police his custody.
