IndiGo on Tuesday suspended stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with it for six months after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard its Mumbai-Lucknow flight.
Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also took notice of the incident and "advised" other airlines in India to impose similar restriction on Kamra, stating "offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers".
Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo's Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday.
"In light of the recent incident on board 6E 5317 from Mumbai to Lucknow, we wish to inform that we are suspending Mr Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct onboard was unacceptable behaviour," IndiGo said on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
"Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers," it added.
In a video clip posted by Kamra on Twitter, the stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist".
While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard as telling him: "Viewers want to know if Arnab today is a coward or a nationalist. Arnab, this is for national interest. I am part of the tukde-tukde narrative. You should deflate me. You should take the enemy of the states down. You should make sure that the country is in safe hands of Narendra Modi."
On IndiGo's decision to suspend him for six months, Kamra said on Twitter, "Thank you IndiGo. A six month suspension is honestly very kind of you. Modiji might be suspending Air India forever."