NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted bail to Shankar Mishra, who was arrested for allegedly peeing on his co-passenger, a septuagenarian woman, on board an Air India flight in an inebriated condition.
Additional Sessions Judge, Patiala House Courts, Harjyot Singh Bhalla allowed bail to Mishra on furnishing a bond of Rs 1 lakh.
After hearing the arguments of the parties, on January 30, the judge reserved Mishra's bail application after observing that what the accused had allegedly done is disgusting but the court is bound to follow the law.
During the course of the hearing, cops told the court that the incident defamed India internationally.
On January 27, the same judge adjourned the matter after the complainant's advocate Ankur Mahindra informed the court that he has not been handed a copy of the bail plea and also took note of the absence of the Investigation officer.
Moreover, the Public Prosecutor (PP) opposed Mishra’s bail contending that the latter initially did not cooperate during the investigation and had absconded with his mobile phones switched off. The cops also argued that the accused threatened the complainant.
The judge observed that the witnesses named by the prosecution “are not deposing in your (police) favour”.
Mishra, who is currently in judicial custody, knocked on the doors of the court again last Wednesday seeking bail against the earlier order of Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg, who had rejected his plea, saying that the alleged act of accused of relieving himself upon the complainant is "utterly disgusting and repulsive" and the act itself is sufficient to outrage the modesty of a woman.
On January 13, in a u-turn in the case, Mishra had told a Delhi court that he did not urinate on the co-passenger woman onboard the Air India flight and she urinated on herself, a contradiction to his earlier statement in which he told the court that he is not running away from the alleged act which was 'obscene.'
The alleged incident had occurred on November 26 last year when a drunk Mishra walked up to the woman's seat in the business class on an Air India New York-New Delhi flight, exposed himself, and urinated on her.
Earlier during the arguments, Mishra's counsel said his act was not driven by sexual desire nor aimed at outraging the complainant's modesty.
Mishra's counsel pointed out that Section 354 deals with sexual harassment and questioned the relevance of the Act in the present case.
The complainant's counsel, however, opposed Mishra's bail application, claiming she was being threatened.