AIR INDIA LTD Vs. M K ABDUL MAJEED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition arises out of the order dated 5th December, 2001 of the Kerala State Commission in Appeal No. 1020/2001 confirming the order of the District Forum, Thiruvananthapuram. The facts which are quite straight-forward are as follows :

(2.) The respondent/original complainant is a retired Deputy Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. He had to attend a Conference of Space Engineers at Agra scheduled for 8.00 a.m. on 8.4.1999. He booked a ticket in the Air India flight scheduled to take off at 8.40 a.m. on 7.4.1999 from Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai from where he had to catch a flight to Delhi for his onward journey to Agra. He was given a Boarding Pass and he along with other passengers boarded the flight at 8.00 a.m. on 7.4.1999. But after 3 hours at about 11.00 a.m. the Airport Authorities announced that the flight is cancelled.

(3.) It is the case of the complainant/respondent that his presence at the Conference at Agra is very important to him and since he being a retired Senior Scientist, he himself had to make alternate arrangements, contacting a travel agent and immediately managed to get a tickete to Delhi in the Indian Airlines flight scheduled to take off at 5.20 p.m. on 7.4.1999. He reached Delhi at 11.45 p.m. As Agra is 250 kms. away and he is to be present at 8.00 a.m. on the next day, he had no other alternative but to take a taxi in the midnight and travel through unfamiliar territory undergoing tremendous amount of stress.