The Indian Express : Feb 01, 2020, 04:08 PM
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra Saturday sent a legal notice to IndiGo demanding an unconditional apology from the airline and revocation of six-month ban against him, reported news agency PTI. He also demanded Rs 25 lakh from the budget carrier for causing “mental pain and agony”. IndiGo banned Kamra from flying with the airline for six months after a video showed him heckling journalist and television anchor Arnab Goswami onboard their flight earlier this week.In the notice sent to the airline, Kamra’s counsel asked the airline to “pay compensation towards my client in sum of Rs 25 lakhs on account of the mental pain and agony suffered by my client as well as losses incurred on account of cancellation of his scheduled shows and programmes in India as well as aborad on account of adoption of a totally illegal, arbitrary and high-handed procedure which is against the extant DGCA CAR (regulations)”.
Apart from IndiGo, airlines such as Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir had also put him on their no-fly list. On Thursday, the pilot in charge of the IndiGo aircraft in which Kamra and Goswami were travelling had written to the airline expressing his objection to the ban on Kamra. Putting a question mark on the process by which IndiGo barred the comedian, the pilot-in-command conveyed to the airline that he was “disheartened to learn that my airline has taken action in this case solely on the basis of social media posts, with no consultation whatsoever with the Pilot-in-Command”.
In his e-mail, the pilot-in-command describes the incident in detail and points out that while Kamra’s behaviour was “unacceptable and verbally abusive”, he complied with the crew’s instructions — and the offence “cannot be classified” even in the Level 1 category.
Apart from IndiGo, airlines such as Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir had also put him on their no-fly list. On Thursday, the pilot in charge of the IndiGo aircraft in which Kamra and Goswami were travelling had written to the airline expressing his objection to the ban on Kamra. Putting a question mark on the process by which IndiGo barred the comedian, the pilot-in-command conveyed to the airline that he was “disheartened to learn that my airline has taken action in this case solely on the basis of social media posts, with no consultation whatsoever with the Pilot-in-Command”.
In his e-mail, the pilot-in-command describes the incident in detail and points out that while Kamra’s behaviour was “unacceptable and verbally abusive”, he complied with the crew’s instructions — and the offence “cannot be classified” even in the Level 1 category.