A Kerala IRS officer, TP Salim Kumar, won a legal case after a six-year battle against IndiGo Airlines for humiliating treatment at Mumbai airport on December 14, 2019. Kumar, then an Assistant Customs Commissioner, was forcibly removed from a shuttle bus and coerced into paying ₹2,150 for a lounge service that was promised to be complimentary. Despite being rebooked on a later flight, he was pressured to pay for alcohol and faced public embarrassment when airline staff demanded payment and threatened to tear up his boarding pass. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Ernakulam ordered IndiGo to pay ₹1.22 lakh in compensation for deficiency in service and unfair trade practice, including ₹1 lakh for mental distress, reimbursement for the coerced lounge fee, missed cinema tickets, and litigation costs. The commission condemned the airline’s failure to justify the exclusion of alcohol from the lounge and emphasized that air travel should be based on trust and respect, not transactional treatment. Kumar stated that his fight was about dignity, seeking acknowledgment that no passenger should be treated disrespectfully. Despite the ruling, he plans to appeal for higher compensation, considering the mental trauma he endured.