Praful Patel was fined Rs3,000 by a Court in Mumbai after his lawyer sought yet another adjournment, a request that was rejected by the hon'ble Judge hearing the criminal defamation case filed by him against Jitender Bhargava, former executive director of Air India and author of the book, 'The Descent of Air India'. The book had chronicled the decline of Air India under Patel by citing numerous acts of omissions and commissions of Praful Patel besides other factors responsible for Air India's financial incapacitation and current state.

Incidentally, today's date had been fixed at Patel's request after the Judge had categorically told his lawyer on 5 November 2015, when the last adjournment request was rejected, that 28 January 2016 will be last date. The next and final hearing date has now been fixed for 12 February 2016 by the Judge after imposing the penalty on him.