The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the plea of a 72-year-old woman, on whom a male co-passenger allegedly urinated on board an Air India flight in November last year, seeking a direction to the Centre, aviation regulator DGCA and all airlines to frame an SOP to deal with such incidents.

 A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the plea of the woman and issued notices to the Centre, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and all airlines, including Air India.

 The top court also sought the assistance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present, in the case for formulating the standard operating procedure (SOP), and fixed the plea for hearing after the summer vacation in July.  “This is that 72 year old woman who had suffered an incident in a flight.... Mr Solicitor General, she wants guidelines to be formulated so that such cases do not arise,” the CJI said while issuing notices to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and others.

 Besides the Centre and DGCA, the top court also issued notices to Air India, Vistara, Indigo, Go Airlines (India) Ltd, Akasa Air and Spicejet Ltd on the plea of the woman. 

The woman had filed a PIL in March saying she was constrained to approach the top court because Air India and the DGCA failed to treat her with care and responsibility after the incident.

 The woman, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, referred to seven instances of passenger misconduct on board from 2014 to 2023 alleging that they were not dealt with properly by the airline concerned. 

The public interest litigation (PIL) sought a direction from the Central Government and the DGCA to ensure that Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) norms adhere to the highest standards laid down internationally.