News

Fly ban on Ravindra Gaikwad in the interests of passneger safety : Civil Aviation Minister at Lok Sabha

by IBNS 27 Mar 2017, 10:11 am

New Delhi, Mar 27 (IBNS) : The Shiv Sena in Parliament on Monday objected to the flight ban on its MP Ravindra Gaikwad who had assaulted an Air India staffer, but Civil l Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju defended the decision, saying it is valid in the interests of passenger safety, reports said.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Raju said the Air India  cannot discriminate between different classes and that they cannot compromise on safety.

 “Violence of any kind is a disaster in civil aviation. We have a good safety record, did not expect in the wildest of dreams an MP would be caught doing this,” he said. 

"even in my wildest dreams expect a member of Parliament to be caught in a violent act," Raju said, adding , "We cannot have an unequal importance given to an MP."

His assertion came after Shiv Sena MP Anandra Adsul raised the issue of  comedian Kapil Sharma's drunken brawl aboard a plane, pointing out that no such ban was slapped on him.

"Kapil Sharma misbehaved on a flight after getting drunk but no ban was imposed on him. Corrupt people are allowed to fly. How can an MP be banned,"  Adsul asked. 

Last week, Gaikwad allegedly thrashed an Air India staffer with his slipper after he was upset over being forced to travel in economy class from Pune to Delhi. 

The MP refused to disembark the plane even after it landed Delhi airport and demanded that the Air India CMD meet him to explain the point. 

When a senior AI staffer, who was trying to persuade him, got involved in altercation with Gaikwad, the MP took off his slipper and to his own admission, "hit him 25 times."

The incident triggered a furore prompting  Air India and six private airliners imposing a ban on Gaikwad.