Unruly Flight Passenger Sent to Jail After he Refuses to Pay Bail Amount

MUMBAI: A man who was booked for alleged acts of endangering the life and personnel safety of others on March 10 has decided to opt for jail instead of paying the fine amount stipulated by the court.

The accused Ratnakar Dwivedi, who was blamed for unruly behaviour onboard Air India’s London-Mumbai flight was arrested immediately after deboarding at the Mumbai airport. He was also accused of smoking in the lavatory of the aircraft on March 10. The authorities had pressed charges under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code which pertains to any act of endangering the life or personal safety of others.

The officials with the airline had mentioned that the passenger continued to behave in an unruly and aggressive manner despite repeated warnings from the crew. The Mumbai Police also gave the report that the person in question endangered the lives of the passengers and disobeyed the oral as well as written instructions from the pilot to remain calm.

When he was produced in the court on Monday, the judge held him guilty of the crime and ordered him to pay a bail amount of Rs 25000 as a fine for his wrongdoings. But he declined to pay the amount, mentioning at online searches have revealed the fine payable under the particular section of the Indian Penal Code allows the fine of Rs 250. He told the court that he was willing to pay that amount instead of the amount mentioned by the court. Following this development, the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate gave him a jail sentence.

In a related incident, a 24-year-old woman who hails from the Sealdah District of the state of West Bengal was found smoking onboard a Kolkata-Bangalore flight. After the flight took to the air, this woman went to the lavatory and was inside for some time. The flight crew suspected that she was smoking in the lavatory. Based on these hunches, they made her open the lavatory door and the cigarette was found in the garbage bin of the lavatory.

Also Read: Woman Detained for Smoking Inside Lavatory Onboard Indigo Flight

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