Brahmin served meat onboard MH gets RM20,000

[Naim 6]

Must be traumatic for the man.

 

2007/06/09

NST

 

Brahmin who was served meat gets RM20,000

 

GEORGE TOWN: A staunch Brahmin Hindu, who was served a chicken pakoda on a Malaysia Airlines flight from Bangalore to Kuala Lumpur four years ago, was yesterday awarded RM20,000 in compensation by the magistrate’s court.

 

Magistrate M. Rajalingam said the award, including interest, was for aggravated damages to Arvind Sharma for injury to his feelings as well as depression, shock and mental anguish and stress coupled with humiliation, loss of pride and self-esteem.

 

The court, he said, found "on the balance of probabilities that Arvind has proven his case against the defendant, Malaysia Airlines".

 

Arvind, a cargo agent for delivery of Dell computers in India, had filed for general and special damages against MAS for serving him non-vegetarian food onboard flight MH193 on March 15, 2003.

 

Rajalingam said there were positive confirmations that the pakoda served was chicken and further evidence was corroborated with a complaint written and acknowledged by both parties.

"Being born in a Brahmin family, having been brought up in the Brahmin way of life and being a vegetarian accords him a social status and is addressed with the honorific ‘Pundit’ in India," he said.

 

"Thus he was entitled to self-respect and dignity. The tort committed upon him in this instance has been fortified by the evidence that he is a strict Brahmin who has never consumed meat in his life.

 

"The defendant’s negligence has caused him a blemish in his code of conduct."

 

Arvind claimed he threw up after eating the pakoda because it contained chicken.

 

He tasted something odd after swallowing a portion of the pakoda and immediately stopped eating it.

 

He removed the balance from his mouth.

 

He then asked his childhood friend, Rohit Bathla, who was seated beside him, to taste the rest of the pakodas and it was confirmed to be chicken.

 

Arvind subsequently complained to the flight stewardess on board who apologised. A stewardess later filled-out a complaint form acknowledging chicken had been served to Arvind.

 

MAS, in its statement of defence, had refuted all charges made by Arvind.

[Ewan Shamsudin 0]

Wooohhhhh!!!.... No wonder they made it a point to serve my "special meal" first before serving others all the time. Except for this one time when I was given normal meal, which I didn't complain. Then halfway through the meal, a crew member came, apologized, and offered to change the food tray for me.

 

"Can I finish this one first? Then you can bring me the other one", said big eater me.

 

 

[Imran K. 0]

depression?

 

That's a tad over the top dont u think?

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

being a brahmin, i've always found MH and jet airways being the most vegetarian friendly airlines. strange that this happened on a MH flight..RM20k, goodness

[Edwin P K 0]

There is always one exception.

[Denny Yen 0]

This kind of case, which started as a service complaint, should not have ended in court. "Injury to self respect and personal dignity" is a legally recognized category of tortious injury, the court will take into account the extent of injury suffered, defendant's remorse, whether or not the plaintiff has discharged its legal burden in proving the case against the defendant, etc.

 

The court will hand down a judgment only after considered all facts and circumstances. In this case, $20,000 is a just compensation for the injury suffered.

 

BTW, he could have gotten more if he is in America...remember the McDonalds hot coffee case - jury awarded $2.7 million to the plaintiff.

Edited June 9, 2007 by Denny Yen

[Radzi 2]

depression?

 

That's a tad over the top dont u think?

 

Similiar to a Muslim being served non-halal food. Depression is to put it up mildly.

 

The crew should be more careful when serving. The passanger should be much mor careful before eating. Check and double-check again.

 

[Naim 6]

being a brahmin, i've always found MH and jet airways being the most vegetarian friendly airlines. strange that this happened on a MH flight..RM20k, goodness

 

Once, I was on an early morning Jet flight from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, and innocently asked for a non-veg brekky, when I realised everybody within earshot was looking at me. Should've known better, only veg stuff served on board; Ahmedabad is the centre for the vegetarian Jains too.

 

+++

 

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

just curious if there is a choice for a veg or a non-veg meal on every sector oh MH's flights? or only on those with high vegans on board?

[Radzi 2]

just curious if there is a choice for a veg or a non-veg meal on every sector oh MH's flights? or only on those with high vegans on board?

 

You can get almost everything listed, as long as you order well in advance.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

This is carelessness in both parties, the server and the eater.

 

 

[Jessnor Arif 1]

Surprisingly this news were featured my city local newspaper "Der Sonntag". Small column in Front Page.

 

Sometimes it was hard even to find news about Berlin or Frankfurt in this newspaper as it is a regional newspaper. What a surprise.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Surprisingly this news were featured my city local newspaper "Der Sonntag". Small column in Front Page.

 

Sometimes it was hard even to find news about Berlin or Frankfurt in this newspaper as it is a regional newspaper. What a surprise.

 

The editor might be a member here...

[Mushrif A 3]

This is carelessness in both parties, the server and the eater.

 

I don't think there is carelessness on the victim's part. If he was told that it was his pre-ordered vegetarian meal - why should he hesitate to eat the meal? Furthermore, it was obvious that the chicken did not look like a "chicken drumstick" or he was eating the dark, was he?