Sentenced To 2 Years Jail In Human Trafficking Case, Daler Mehndi Gets Bail

Agencies

March 16, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 16: Minutes after he was sentenced to two years in jail in a 2003 human trafficking case by a court in Patiala, Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi has been granted bail, according to news agency ANI. The 50-year-old singer was convicted earlier today and immediately taken into custody by the Punjab Police.

Daler Mehndi, 50, and his brother, Shamsher Singh, had been accused of illegally sending people abroad disguised as members of his troupe by charging hefty "passage money."

The Mehndi brothers had allegedly taken two troupes in 1998 and 1999 during the course of which 10 persons were taken to the US as group members and were "dropped off" illegally.

Daler Mehndi, on a trip to the US in the company of an actress had allegedly "dropped off" three girls at San Francisco.

Both brothers took another troupe to the US in October 1999 in the company of some other actors during which three boys were "dropped off" at New Jersey.

Soon after the Patiala Police registered a case against Daler Mehndi and Shamsher Singh, 35 more complaints came up levelling charges of fraud against the two brothers.

The complaints had alleged that two brothers had taken "passage money" from them to help them migrate to the US "illegally", but had failed to do so.

Patiala Police had even raided the offices of Daler Mehndi at Connaught Place in New Delhi and seized documents, including the case file of those who had paid the alleged "passage money" to Mehndi brothers.

In 2006, Patiala Police filed two discharge petitions stating Daler Mehndi to be innocent, but the court had upheld that the singer be prosecuted as there was "sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation".

Daler Mehndi had a massive following in the late nineties and early 2000s for his pop songs, including the hit numbers "Tunak Tunak Tun", "Bolo Ta Ra Ra" and "Saade Naal Rahoge Toh...".

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

IndiGo offers full waiver on cancellations, reschedule requests for bookings between Dec 5 and 15

News Network

December 6,2025

With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

Comments