Even as the pilot of the aircraft, where stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra had verbally harassed journalist Arnab Goswami earlier in the week, said on Thursday the incident wasn’t serious enough to put the accused in a no-fly list for six months, the government defended its action.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Business Standard that the incident was extraordinary as there was video evidence and that the actions of the airline were justified. “This particular incident has been recorded and constitutes an extraordinary situation of what a passenger can or ...