The Hyderabad High Court refused to grant relief to TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy, on the issue of the flying ban issued against him by private airlines, after he created a ruckus at the Visakhapatnam Airport last month.
Reddy was caught on camera damaging a printer and pushing a senior official from Indigo airlines, after he arrived late for his flight, and was denied a boarding pass.
Reddy, in his petition, argued that imposing a ban on him without conducting an inquiry, was "unlawful and contrary to the rights accorded by the Constitution."
However, while dealing with his petition, the High Court reportedly asked him if he would allow unruly elements to travel in buses operated by Diwakar Travels.
Diwakar Travels is owned by the family of Diwakar Reddy.
“The petitioner also runs a travel agency. Will this agency allow passengers who violate safety rules to travel in his buses?” the judge was quoted as saying.
The court also said that it could not pass an order, unless it heard the other side of the issue.
Following this, the HC issued notices to all the airlines that had imposed a ban on Reddy, along with the Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The case will come up for hearing again on July 21.
Last month, two videos from CCTV cameras had surfaced. While one showed Reddy shouting at airline officials and trying to throw a printer on the floor, the other showed him pushing a senior airline official.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju was present at the airport during the incident, but denied helping the MP. He clarified that he had only asked the airport director to look into the matter by examining the CCTV footage.
Following his violent behaviour, IndiGo barred the 73-year-old businessman-politician from using its flights. Other domestic airlines including Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara also followed suit.