From Ron Duarah
DIBRUGARH, Sept 3 – Dr Surendra Rana Patgiri, head of the department of gynaecology at the AMC here could not light his father’s pyre on July 3, 1998. The Dibrugarh District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has found Sahara Airline guilty for this and has slapped a Rs 1 lakh fine on the airline, in addition to asking the air carrier to refund the ticketing amount, along with interest. It so happened that Dr Patgiri had to rush to Sarupeta in Barpeta district upon coming to know of the demise of his father. Accordingly, he purchased three tickets from here to Guwahati on the airline as he had intended to light the funeral pyre, as is the custom for eldest sons in Hindu families. But on the day of the journey, the airline refused to carry Dr Patgiri and his family, without assisgning any reason. Feeling thoroughly humiliated – he and his family were asked not to board the aircraft after going through the security check – Dr Patgiri then hired a taxi and took the road. Even so, he missed his father’s funeral.
After coming back to Dibrugarh, he consulted a lawyer and decided to sue the airline for humiliation and agony. He lodged a complaint with the consumer forum here and this was registered as consumer protection case No. 46/1998. On August 23 this year, the Consumer Court, after hearing the case in detail, gave its verdict in Dr Patgiri’s favour. The court rejected the arguments by the Sahara officials and its counsel, saying these did not hold much water. The court also took a serious view of the airline’s denial of a fundamental right to a law abiding citizen, and has asked Sahara airlines to pay up within a month.
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