Jorhat, July 15: The District Consumer Forum has directed Jet Airways to compensate a businessman here for causing loss of business, mental harassment, cost of transportation and litigation costs.

The private carrier was also found to have furnished forged documents in its defence plea. The recent (July 10) judgment on Consumer Protection Act Case No: 16/14 Makhanlal Gattani versus Jet Airways, the private airlines was directed to pay Rs 68,000 to the complainant.

Gattani, designated a privilege category member of Jet Airways, regularly travelled by the carrier on business.The complainant said on February 1, 2014, he travelled from Jorhat to Guwahati and then to Calcutta. He had also booked two return tickets on February 4, 2014, from Calcutta to Guwahati in Jet Airways 9W 2484 and from Guwahati to Jorhat in flight number 9W 2878 on payment of Rs 12,153.

On February 4, he said he had arrived at 5am to board the flight scheduled at 6.05am. At 7am, he was told that the Jet Airways flight 9W2484 was delayed because of bad weather in Guwahati. Around 11am, Jet Airways merged flight 9W2484 with flight 9W2878 and two boarding passes from Calcutta to Guwahati and Guwahati to Jorhat were issued to him. He was also assured that the flight from Guwahati to Jorhat would not take off without taking the passengers arriving from Calcutta. But when he arrived at Guwahati, flight 9W2878 had taken off for Jorhat and he came to know that the weather condition in Guwahati at the relevant time was not bad.

The judgment said Jet Airways in order to promote sale of tickets adopted deceptive means by making a false plea of bad weather in Guwahati.

The judge ruled that Jet Airways should therefore pay Rs 68,000 within one month of the date of judgment to Gattani. P. Didwania, advocate for Gattani, said their argument had been that the visibility report furnished was a photocopy without signature and that the weather was fine.