Air India deboarded Religare Enterprises chairperson Rashmi Saluja from a London-bound flight at the Delhi airport for rude behaviour with crew members on March 5, sources said on Thursday.
The incident happened on flight AI 161 before the scheduled pushback for take-off and Saluja was deboarded following advice from the captain of the flight.
In a statement, an Air India spokesperson said a passenger travelling in business class was offboarded on the advice of the captain following some argument with members of the crew before the scheduled pushback.
While Air India did not mention the name of the passenger involved in the incident, a source in the know said the passenger was Saluja.
Another source said the passenger behaved rudely with the crew members.
A query sent to Religare Enterprises seeking comments on the incident involving Saluja did not elicit an immediate response.
"Following the offboarding, flight AI 161 departed after a delay of about an hour. The passenger who was offboarded was travelling for some compelling reasons and was accommodated on a subsequent flight following a written assurance," the Air India spokesperson said.
Religare Enterprises and Dabur group promoters are involved in a corporate dispute over having a controlling stake in Religare Enterprises.
Dabur group promoters have also made certain allegations of corporate governance lapses against Saluja and Religare Enterprises. These allegations have been denied by both.
As many as 894 passengers were denied boarding by Air India in January and around Rs 98 lakh was spent by the airline on facilitation/ compensation, as per information from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
