Both John and the 37-year-old airhostess confirmed that they were not aware that the inquiry had been completed -- or even initiated -- till they read about it in the newspapers. ``I am completely depressed, surprised...,'' the airhostess said as she broke into sobs, ``I am so discouraged after reading that the IA is saying the charges are false. It seems I committed a mistake,'' she told Express Newsline.

Similarly, when asked whether he was interrogated during the inquiry, John's first reaction was: ``Which inquiry?''. He said he returned to work on Wednesday afternoon and was not questioned. Nor did he know who conducted the inquiry. ``I read about it in the newspaper and it was a big shock to me. It was a lot of mental torture for me and my family,'' he said. John dismissed the allegations as ``false and well-planned.''

Raman Khanna, Deputy General Manager (PR), Indian Airlines, maintained that the inquiry was conducted by a senior manager but refused to divulge the name of the official. ``It was finalised on Monday evening that an inquiry would be conducted. It began on Tuesday and on Wednesday, the proceedings were complete,'' Khanna said. ``I was home all day on Tuesday. Nobody called me,'' said the airhostess. ``On Wednesday, I flew on a Hyderabad-Bangalore-Chennai flight at 6.30 a.m. and returned this morning,'' she added. John confirmed that he returned to the airport on Wednesday afternoon first time after Sunday.

When asked why the complainant or the accused were not questioned, Khanna remarked: ``This was done to keep it fair and impartial. This is the official procedure. The inquiry was conducted according to the rules laid down. We only go and examine the witnesses.''

``The woman has already said everything she wanted to say in the complaint. Then she has gone and lodged a complaint with the police,'' Khanna justified. He said the witnesses were questioned ``and prima facie it was established that there was no physical misbehaviour.'' He clarified that he was not part of the inquiry team.

While a number of in-flight service crew members have rallied behind the clerk, 42 of them issued a statement to the press on Wednesday saying that the charges were ``false and baseless''. While narrating Sunday's incident, John, on the other hand, said ``six people were there in the hall.'' He said the airhostess had asked him for a Mumbai flight which he could not give her, so she left in a huff.