In a statement to the Delhi Court, Shankar Mishra’s lawyer denied the accusations that Mishra urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger on an Air India flight. Mishra himself also told the court that he did not urinate on the complainant and that she urinated on herself, according to news reports.
“I did not urinate on the complainant,” Mishra’s lawyer Ramesh Gupta told the Delhi court, PTI reported. Gupta went on to explain that the woman’s seat was blocked and it would have been impossible for Mishra to reach it. He further stated that the woman had an incontinence problem and that it was she who urinated on herself. Gupta also cited that 80% of Kathak dancers have this issue.
Mishra’s lawyer, Ramesh Gupta, made a new claim in court that Mishra did not urinate on the complainant, contradicting the accounts of co-passengers and WhatsApp exchanges between Mishra and the victim that suggest otherwise. Gupta stated that the woman had a disease related to the prostate and that the seating arrangement made it impossible for anyone to reach her seat. Gupta also criticized the police and the media for turning the case into a joke.
The session court judge questioned the defense lawyer’s claim that it was impossible for Mishra to reach the complainant’s seat by stating, “Sorry, but I have traveled as well. Anybody from any row can come around and go to any seat.” The judge asked for a diagram of the flight seating. The defense lawyer argued that the complainant’s seat could only be approached from behind and that in any case, the urine could not have reached the front of the seat. He also pointed out that the passenger sitting behind the complainant did not make any such complaint.
The judge was reviewing Delhi police’s request for custodial interrogation of Mishra. The Delhi sessions court had previously issued a notice to Mishra in response to an application filed by the Delhi Police requesting his further custodial interrogation. The hearing was conducted by Additional sessions judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla, who was considering the request to revise an order passed on January 7 by a metropolitan magistrate, which placed Mishra in 14-day judicial remand and denied police custody.
The judge gave the defendants notice of the application and the police’s issuance of the production order. Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg on Wednesday refused to release Mishra, saying his behavior was “absolutely disgusting and despicable”.
