IndiGo, Air India lift ban on TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy

The ban was lifted two days after the Monsoon session of the Parliament began on July 17.

Private airline IndiGo and publicly owned Air India Wednesday lifted the flying ban on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP JC Diwakar Reddy with immediate effect a month after he was banned by most of the domestic airlines from flying due to his alleged unruly behavior.

The ban was lifted two days after the Monsoon session of the Parliament began on July 17.

The TDP lawmaker had allegedly created a ruckus at the Visakhapatnam airport on June 15 after he was not allowed boarding by IndiGo for being late. Reddy had allegedly gone on the rampage, pushing an airline staffer and lifting a printer from the table, after he was denied boarding by IndiGo for being late.

Almost all the domestic airlines in India had announced a flying ban on Reddy following the ruckus.

Last week Reddy had filed a petition in the Hyderabad High Court requesting it to declare flying ban on him illegal.

He made the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India, Jet Airways, Vistara Airlines, IndiGo, GoAir, Air Asia, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha Airways as respondents to his petition.

In the petition, he sought a direction declaring action of respondents in imposing flying ban on him as "illegal, arbitrary, violative of principle of natural justice...And to consequently direct the respondents to forthwith allow the petitioner to fly in all domestic flights".

He said the parliament session is expected to commence from July 17 and since he is an MP and a senior citizen, the ban imposed on him would result in lot of difficulties and hence it should be lifted.

(With agency inputs)