Mumbai man sue Emirates for Rs 87 lakhs after finding ‘cockroach’ in food
Mumbai Lawyer finds cockroach in inflight meal; sue Emirates for Rs 87 lakhs for ‘mental trauma’
Yusuf Iqbal, the founder of law firm Y&A Legal, was flying first class with his wife after celebrating his birthday from Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca, to Mumbai on February 27 when he discovered the the insect in his inflight meal.
Iqbal, a lawyer, has been practising law for 17 years and is a senior member of London-based International Council of Jurists. He was so disgusted by the sight of an insect in his food — he claims it was a cockroach, while the Dubai-based airline says it was a beetle — that he threw up afew times in the bathroom.
The dreadful experience has left him with a fear of flying and he later skipped a work-related engagement that required air travel, missing out on “anticipated professional fees” of Rs 30 lakh, according to Iqbal’s legal notice to Emirates. He has cited the loss of the potential fees, Rs 50 lakh for mental trauma, and Rs 7 lakh for his and wife’s first-class return tickets (Mumbai-Casablanca-Mumbai) in the compensation demand.
Iqbal sent the legal notice last week after a “without prejudice or admission of liability” response from the airline “admitted” that it was a beetle and offered him 25,000 air miles “as a token of regret”. He maintains he saw a cockroach in his chicken salad.
In its response to the complaint, the airline’s customer affairs executive said: “The inspection of the beetle allegedly found in your salad shows it was a common seasonal beetle found in Morocco. But, finding out how it came aboard was difficult to pinpoint. ”Iqbal has given Emirates time till mid-April to pay the Rs 87-lakh compensation.
