‘To silence a critic’: Rahul Gandhi backs Kunal Kamra

New Delhi, Jan 29: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday backed stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra after the latter was barred by four airlines from flying with them.

Taking to Twitter, Rahul wrote "the ban on Kamra was an 'act of a coward' and an attempt to "silence a critic".

"The ban imposed on #kunalkamra by 4 airlines is the act of a coward leveraging his influence with the Govt to silence a critic," tweeted Gandhi.

The comedian has been banned from flying with GoAir, SpiceJet, Air India till "further notice", while IndiGo, on whose plane the heckling stunt happened, has barred him from flying with it for next six months citing unacceptable behaviour.

With airlines rushing to ban Kunal Kamra on their planes, aviation regulator this evening said the action by the carriers is in line with its regulations.

In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as reported by the news agency PTI, said, "This is to reiterate that the action taken by the airlines is in complete consonance with Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section-3, Series M Part VI on Handling of unruly passengers."

The DGCA said the "matter will be referred to an internal committee" and that committee is then to give a final decision in 30 days which will be "binding on the airline concerned".