Days after he was barred from flying by four airlines for heckling journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight, comedian Kunal Kamra on Friday sent a legal notice to IndiGo Airlines.
The incident involving Kamra and Goswami occurred on a Mumbai-Lucknow flight earlier this week. IndiGo imposed a ban of six months on Kamra, on the grounds his conduct on the flight was "unacceptable behaviour". After Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri called for action on the incident, Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir followed suit.
Law website Live Law reported Kamra sent IndiGo a notice via advocate Prashant Sivarajan seeking suspension of his ban with "immediate effect", an "unconditional apology" by the airline on all electronic, print and digital media and compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the "mental pain and agony" caused to him and loss of income from cancellation of his shows.
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Kamra described the ban as a "totally illegal, arbitrary and high-handed procedure", which was against existing DGCA guidelines.
Kamra also sought action against the officials who imposed the ban on him. In the legal notice, Kamra said he had exercised his right to freedom of speech when he sought to engage in a conversation with Goswami. Kamra also noted Goswami himself had not made any complaints or even sought intervention of the flight crew.
The legal notice said Kamra had not been provided a copy of any complaint or notice regarding proceedings against him and he was not given an opportunity to rebut charges against him.
