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Surat: In what is probably the first ever verdict of its kind, a court in Surat, Gujarat, sentenced a Delhi man to serve six months in prison for smoking on an Air India Express flight two years ago.

Smoking on flights is strictly prohibited and a punishable offence in the country. Airlines have welcomed the order and said that it will send out a strong message to flyers.

A district court in Surat passed the verdict.

Kostav Satyajit Biswas boarded an Air India Express flight to Bengaluru from Delhi via Surat around 8.24 pm on April 10, 2024. When the flight was in the air, Biswas went to the washroom and reportedly spent a long time there. Other passengers who needed to use the facility complained to a senior crew member about the same, as reported by The Indian Express.

When Biswas finally opened the washroom door, the crew member noticed smoke. Upon inquiring, the passenger reportedly admitted to smoking and flushed a cigarette butt down the toilet.
The passenger’s boarding pass and other documents were shared with the flight captain, and he was detained by the carrier’s ground staff when the flight reached Surat International Airport around 9.45 pm.

Biswas was handed over to the Dumas police, which booked him under the IPC Section 336 (Endangering life or personal safety of others) and Section 10 of the Aircraft Act, 1934. During a search, five cigarettes and a matchbox were recovered from him, prosecution lawyer P Y Pathan confirmed.

They had timely submitted a chargesheet with statements comprising oral evidence from 10 people and six pieces of documentary evidence, the police said.

The hearing took place in the court of judge Dr Kumari Supreet Kaur Gaba. The witnesses were examined during the trial, and arguments were presented by both sides.

“Based on evidence and statements of the witnesses, the accused had been found guilty of committing the offence punishable under Section 10 of the Aircraft Act. The accused is sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and a penalty of Rs. 10,000,” the Court ordered on Friday after hearing concluded.