The accused Shankar Mishra, who had allegedly urinated on a co-passenger onboard an Air India flight between New York on 26 November has told the Delhi court that he did not pee on women but the woman herself peed on her seat.
“The complainant woman’s seat was blocked. It wasn’t possible for him (Mishra) to go there. The woman has a problem with incontinence. She urinated on herself. She is a Kathak dancer, 80 percent of kathak dancers have this issue,” the accused said through senior lawyer Ramesh Gupta.
“She herself urinated. The seating system was such that no one could go to her seat. The passenger sitting behind the complainant did not make any such complaint,” Gupta said.
Meanwhile, after making this statement Additional Sessions Judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla said, “It is not impossible to go from one side of the flight to the other. Sorry, but I have traveled as well. Anybody from any row can come around and go to any seat.”
The Additional Sessions Judge asked Delhi Police to investigate whether the accused person was intoxicated before boarding the flight or not.
“The appeal doesn’t seem to have been made before the magistrate court. It is not appropriate to decide on an order based on submissions not made before the magistrate. The ground seems to be widely worded and the magistrate can’t be expected to apply his mind to all possible situations,” Additional Sessions Judge said.
However, Patiala House Court sent Shankar Mishra to 14 days of judicial custody on 7 January and on 11 January the Patiala House Court reserved an order on Mishra’s bail plea.
Earlier on On 6 January, Mishra was arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru. On 7 January Mishra was sent to 14 days of judicial custody by Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Saturday.
However, for a medical examination, the accused was taken to Safdarjung Hospital before taking to the Patiala House Court in Delhi.