Senior lawyer and former Nominated Member of Parliament
Shriniwas Rai, 65, sued Air India after discovering its staff had
eaten some sweets he had unintentionally left behind after a
flight.
Mr Rai took Air India to court on November 1, and obtained a
default judgment for damages and costs after Air India failed to
show up for the hearing.
However, last Wednesday, the airline decided upon an
out-of-court settlement with Mr Rai.
When contacted, Mr Rai told The Sunday Times (ST) that
he would donate the sum from the settlement to the Singapore Indian
Development Association (Sinda).
He revealed that he decided to sue the airline because he felt
frustrated and upset with how they handled the situation on March
21 when he and his wife, after landing at Changi Airport,
discovered that they had left three boxes of sweets on the
plane.
The sweets were purchased from New Delhi and were gifts for
relatives here in Singapore, he said.
After several phone calls went unanswered, Mr Rai contacted a
Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Sats) officer at the baggage
claims section and was advised to go to Air India’s office at the
terminal.
At the Air India office, he was told no such bag was found on
the plane. However, he noticed a half-empty box of sweets just
before he left, according to court papers filed.
An airline official whom he subsequently spoke to apologised and
admitted that the box of sweets had been consumed, with the other
two boxes given to the flight crew.
The boxes of sweets were then promptly recovered from the staff
and delivered to Mr Rai’s home within two hours.
An Air India spokesman told the same paper that the cabin crew
usually makes a standard announcement for passengers to check for
their personal belongings before they leave the plane.
“Baggage and belongings left behind by passengers in the
aircraft are handed over to the security department of the local
station,” he added.
It is also understood that when security staff found the bag of
sweets, there was no identification tag, and seeing that it
contained perishables, it was kept aside.
The spokesman also explained that Air India’s counsel did not
show up in court as “there was some miscommunication between the
Air India-appointed lawyer and the local manager in Singapore”.
A spokesman from Sats also told ST that each airline
has their own guidelines on how they handle lost and found
items.
“Sats, being the ground handler, will follow the guidelines
provided by each of our airline customers. Lost and found items
will first be surrendered to Sats Auxiliary Police for record and
acknowledgement. Sats Auxiliary Police will then hand over the
items to the Lost and Found Unit which, in turn, will register and
hold the items for five to seven days, depending on airlines’
guidelines. If the items remain unclaimed, they will be returned to
the airlines.”
-- Yahoo! News