High Court Decision in SpiceJet Hijack Tweet Case
The Delhi High Court has recently ordered a passenger to pay costs amounting to ₹30,000 for falsely claiming on social media that his flight had been hijacked. This decision arose during a hearing presided over by Justice Saurabh Banerjee, who addressed the petition from Moti Singh Rathore. Rathore sought the quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against him following his misleading tweet.
Incident Background and Legal Proceedings
In 2023, a SpiceJet flight traveling from Dubai to Jaipur faced a diversion to Delhi due to severe weather conditions, resulting in a six-hour delay. Expressing his frustration, Rathore posted on X, a social media platform, erroneously stating that flight SG 58 was “high jacked,” while tagging the Civil Aviation Minister. Shortly after, Rathore issued a clarification, apologizing for his use of the term “hijacked” and attributing the error to his limited English proficiency.
In his subsequent tweets, Rathore explained, “I apologize for mistakenly using the word ‘hijacked’… My English is limited, and I wrote ‘hijacked’ by mistake because the flight was late, and I was frustrated.”
Criminal Charges and Court’s Consideration
Following Rathore’s tweet, an FIR was lodged against him under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 505(1)(b) (public mischief by spreading alarming rumor), and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Rathore’s counsel argued that there was no intent to incite public panic and that his mistake stemmed from his struggle to articulate his grievances in English.
The Court considered Rathore’s background, including his limited command of the English language, his young age, and his clean criminal record. “While the petitioner’s act could have had serious repercussions, there were no untoward incidents that resulted,” the Court noted. The Court also acknowledged the stress caused by the flight’s diversion and delay, as well as Rathore’s prompt correction of his mistake within an hour.
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Court’s Ruling and Conditions
In its order dated August 4, the Court decided to quash the FIR against Rathore on the condition that he contributes ₹30,000 to the Delhi High Court Staff Welfare Fund within two weeks. Advocates Asad Iqbal and M Abuzar represented the petitioner, while standing counsel Anand V Khatri appeared for the Delhi Police.
