The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear Telugu Desam Party legislator JC Diwakar Reddy’s petition challenging the flying ban imposed on him by eight domestic airlines, the Hindustan Times reported.

IndiGo had banned him after he had misbehaved with its staff at the Visakhapatnam airport in June. Air India, SpiceJet, Jet Airways, Vistara Airlines, GoAir, Turbo Megha Airways and Air Asia had followed suit.

On June 15, Reddy had created a ruckus at the Vishakhapatnam airport after IndiGo had refused to let him board a flight to Hyderabad as he had the ticket counter 28 minutes before the flight. The MP then got abusive with the staff and is also believed to have damaged some furniture and a printer inside IndiGo’s ticketing corner.

Claiming that the incident had been blown out of proportion, Reddy now wants the court to declare the restriction illegal and order the airlines to allow him to travel by their flights. He said the flying ban was unlawful and arbitrary and an infringement on his rights as it was imposed on him with no proof.

Reddy also claimed that his health did not allow him to take alternative modes of transport.

Other passengers banned from airlines

Earlier this year, Air India and several private carriers had banned Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from its flights after he had assaulted a 60-year-old Air India staff. The ban was later lifted following pressure from the party.

Such incidents of misbehaviour at airports and on flights by lawmakers had prompted the Ministry of Civil Aviation to announce that a national “no-fly” list will be rolled out in July. The ministry had proposed placing flying bans on passengers from between three months to three years, though airlines were not obligated to follow it.