Booked under charges that could fetch him life imprisonment, Jitender Mohla’s bail plea was moved before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R K Goel, who would hear the arguments on Friday.

The bail application (of which Newsline possesses a copy) has charged the flight crew of creating the crisis, as they immaturely handled Mohla’s “minor” altercation with the airhostess over a request to change his seat.

“The whole situation has been created due to the mishandling by the crew, as they were immature and inexperienced. A false story has been cooked up to cover up the lapses on the part of all the agencies involved, starting with the crew and its airline,” it reads.

The application, filed through counsel Sharat Kapoor, states that the pilot had used the term “hijack” in a “casual manner” to calm down the airhostess, and had there been any situation of this kind, the ATC must have been informed.

“Since it was the fault of the crew and the airline, later on they decided to falsely implicate and involve the applicant to save their own skin. If there had been any situation as alleged by the police, the pilot was duty bound to convey it to the ATC. The fact that the pilot did not communicate to the ATC was due to the reason that there was no real threat,” it read.