Kunal Kamra sends legal notice to IndiGo demanding apology, revocation of 6 month ban
New Delhi, Feb 1: Days after IndiGo banned Kunal Kamra for a six-month period for allegedly heckling journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight, the comedian has sent a legal notice to the airline demanding an unconditional apology, revocation of the ban and Rs 25 lakh compensation.
In the notice sent to the airline on Friday, Kamra's lawyer stated that his client has suffered "mental pain and agony" due to "illegal, arbitrary and high-handed decision" of the airline.
Kamra was banned by IndiGo for six months on Tuesday for allegedly harassing the Republic TV Editor on its Mumbai-Lucknow flight.
As Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri advised other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the comedian, SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India imposed a similar ban on him without specifying any period. However, two airlines of the Tata group - Vistara and AirAsia India - have stated that they are "reviewing" the matter.
An IndiGo statement on Saturday said, "The company will duly respond to any legal notice that it receives in relation to this matter."
Kamra has given IndiGo one week's time to respond to the legal notice, accessed by PTI.
While aviation regulator DGCA had on Wednesday stated that the action by the four carriers is in "complete consonance" with its regulations, the pilot-in-command of the Mumbai-Lucknow flight had told IndiGo management on Thursday that Kamra's actions were "unsavoury" but not "unruly" and this incident was not "reportable in any way".
Hours after the captain's letter to his management became public on Thursday, the Aviation minister justified IndiGo's action, stating that airlines must ensure 'zero tolerance' for any activity that has the potential to jeopardize passengers' safety.
In the legal notice to IndiGo's CEO Ronojoy Dutta, Kamra's lawyer Prashant Sivarajan said that Goswami -- against whom Kamra's "exchanges" were directed -- neither made any complaint nor requested the intervention of the cabin crew at any point of time during the flight.
Kamra first came to know about his ban through the airline's post on Twitter on Tuesday night, Sivarajan said. "It was only subsequently the next day at 9.38 am that my client received an email from your consumer relations team officially intimating him about the six-month ban," said Sivarajan.
As per the 2017 rules of aviation regulator DGCA, if a passenger engages in any unruly behaviour, the pilot-in-command has to file a complaint and only then an internal committee of the airline can probe the matter and take punitive action based on findings of the investigation.
The pilot-in-command has not made any complaint against him and therefore, as per the regulations, no action can be initiated against him, Sivarajan said.
The 2017 DGCA rules state that a passenger who verbally assaults anyone is deemed as "level 1" unruly passenger and he or she can be banned up to maximum of three months by the airline's internal committee.
Therefore, Sivarajan said, even if Kamra is found guilty by the internal committee, the maximum penalty under law is of three months. "Thus imposition of six months' ban is wholly illegal, manifestly arbitrary and non-est in law". At the end of 10-page legal notice, Sivarajan asked IndiGo to "revoke the suspension" of Kamra from flying with IndiGo airlines for a period of six months with immediate effect".
The lawyer also asked IndiGo to "tender unconditional apology towards my client in all leading newspapers as well as electronic media and on all of the social media platforms currently being operated by you".
He also asked the airline to take action "against the errant officials for imposing the instant ban in abrogation of the DGCA CARs (civil aviation requirements) as notified under...Aircraft Rules, 1937".
Sivarajan asked the airline to "pay compensation towards my client in sum of Rs 25 lakhs on account of the mental pain and agony suffered by my client as well as losses incurred on account of cancellation of his scheduled shows and programmes in India as well as aborad on account of adoption of a totally illegal, arbitrary and high-handed procedure which is against the extant DGCA CAR (regulations)".
Apart from the 25 lakh compensation, Sivarajan also asked the airline to "pay a sum of Rs one lakh towards the cost of the present legal notice".
In a video clip posted by Kamra on his Twitter handle on Tuesday, he is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist".
While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard telling him, "You should fight against dynasts like Rahul Gandhi, who I support, on 10 Tughlak Lane. Arnab, you should have a reply, Arnab. Arnab, are you a coward or are you a journalist?"
A section of people on social media has questioned the stiff penalty on Kamra, asking why no action was taken against BJP MP Pragya Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blasts, who was also involved in an incident on a SpiceJet plane last December.
SpiceJet had stated that Thakur was asked by the crew on its Delhi-Bhopal flight -- which she was taking on December 21 -- to move to a non-emergency row seat as she was on a wheelchair but she refused, causing a delay in the flight. While some restless passengers requested Thakur to change her seat others asked the crew to offload her.
However, Thakur was not banned by SpiceJet or any other airline from flying in their flights.
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BJP's downfall has begun, its govt at Centre in minority: Mamata
Howrah/Baruipur (WB) (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the saffron party's "downfall" began after the Centre failed to secure passage of a Constitution amendment bill to implement women's reservation in legislatures from 2029.
Addressing back-to-back rallies at Uluberia in Howrah and Baruipur in South 24 Parganas, the TMC supremo said Friday's events in Parliament had shown that the BJP was no longer a party with a majority of its own and was surviving in office only with the support of two allies.
"Yesterday proved they are no longer a majority government. It is a minority government. They are somehow running it with the support of two parties," she said, in an apparent reference to the BJP's dependence on allies in the NDA.
In a major setback to the Centre, a Constitution amendment bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday, with the ruling dispensation asserting that the struggle to give the rights to women will continue.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in the Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
Banerjee questioned why the women's reservation was tied to the delimitation exercise.
"Why link it with delimitation? Is this an attempt to hide fish with greens?" she asked, invoking the Bengali phrase 'shak diye mach dhaka' to claim that the "Centre was trying to conceal its real intentions".
Ahead of the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, Banerjee sought to turn the BJP's parliamentary setback into a larger political narrative, portraying it as the "beginning of the BJP's decline nationally".
"Modi sahib's downfall began in Delhi yesterday. In the Lok Sabha, you have been defeated; now you will have to be defeated on the ground. Bengal will show the way," she told cheering supporters at Uluberia.
In typical Mamata style, she mixed political attacks with personal anecdotes and old grievances.
Recalling her long association with the demand for women's reservation, Banerjee said she had been fighting for the cause since 1998, long before the BJP made it an issue.
"This is not a women's bill. I have fought for women's reservation since 1998. They are using the media to spread lies," she said.
The TMC supremo accused the Centre of linking the women's quota with delimitation in order to conceal what she described as a larger political design.
Banerjee alleged that the proposed delimitation exercise was aimed at redrawing political boundaries and weakening states like West Bengal.
"It was a plan to divide the country, divide Bengal and divide every state. The game was to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats. We sent our 21 MPs to Parliament because the issue was important. We will not allow Bengal to be divided," she said.
The chief minister said the BJP did not need to lecture her party on women's empowerment, asserting that the TMC had already ensured greater representation for women than most parties in the country.
She said women constituted around 37 per cent of the party's elected Lok Sabha MPs and 46 per cent of its Rajya Sabha members.
"We have given 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayats and municipalities. Show me another party that has done this," she said.
The reference was meant to reinforce one of the Trinamool Congress' strongest political claims -- that it has built a durable support base among women voters through welfare schemes and representation.
As she moved from Uluberia to Baruipur, Banerjee sharpened her attack further and sought to bring Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar into the campaign.
"Did you see what happened to Nitish Kumar? They used him during the elections and then pushed him aside," she said.
Kumar resigned as Bihar chief minister on Tuesday, making way for the first-ever BJP-led government in the state.
Banerjee also cautioned people against filling up forms under a proposed scheme promising cash assistance by the BJP.
"Now, they (BJP leaders) are saying they will give Rs 3,000. Do not fill up those forms by mistake. They are taking your name and address. Then they will take away all the money from your account. They are all frauds," she alleged.
Banerjee also accused the BJP of planning to "misuse" the central agencies and security forces during the assembly elections.
"IAS and IPS officers have their dignity. We will foil every plan to capture Bengal using the central forces. Yesterday, Modi's downfall began in Delhi. The election defeat in Bengal will be the second fall," she said.
Her remarks drew loud applause from party workers, as the TMC has been projecting the 2026 West Bengal election not merely as a state contest but as the next big political battle after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee also used the rallies to revive her familiar attack on the BJP over what she calls its "double standards" on religion and food.
"You are looting the country and destroying it. When you go to Saudi Arabia and hug leaders there, you do not talk about Hindu-Muslim. So much beef is exported. But in Bengal, you want to stop people from eating fish and meat," she said.
VIDEO | West Bengal polls: “BJP's downfall has begun”, says CM Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) on NDA failing to pass bill to give women quota from 2029.#AssemblyPollsWithPTI #WestBengalPollsWithPTI
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 18, 2026
(Source: Third Party)
(Full video available on PTI Videos -… pic.twitter.com/dTdOcEKfW5
