Neither booked ticket for April 17 nor 24: Gaikwad

After Air India yet again denied him permission to fly and cancelled his tickets between Mumbai and Delhi, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Friday said that neither did he book a ticket for April 17 nor for April 24 for any airline as being aired by the media.

"It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for 17 and 24 April and my defaming is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017," Gaikwad said in a statement.

Clarifying his stand, Gaikwad further requested not to penalize any citizen or encroach upon any one's right just because one's surname or name resembles his name.

"Also I request to airline to find out the true person who has booked the tickets," he added.

Meanwhile, Air India has lifted the ban on Gaikwad.

Air India had earlier in the day announced that the airline has cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

Air India's move comes a day after protests in Parliament by the Shiv Sena MPs, who threatened to disrupt the airline's operations in Mumbai unless the ban on Gaikwad was revoked.