SC agrees to hear pleas related to June 12 Air India plane crash

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a PIL of an NGO alleging that the official probe into the June 12 Air India plane crash violated citizens’ fundamental rights to life, equality and access to truthful information.

Air India’s Boeing 787-8 flight AI171 en route to London’s Gatwick airport was operated by pilot-in-command Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Captain Clive Kunder. The crash took place after the flight took off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew on board.

On Wednesday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was told by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for PIL petitioner NGO ‘Safety Matters Foundation’, that so far, neither the Centre nor the the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) have filed their replies to the petition.

“The entire pilots association are saying there is a problem in the Boeing 787 aircraft which needs to be grounded,” Bhushan submitted.

“SIR (hearing on pleas related to special intensive revision of electoral rolls pleas) will be over today, and we will give you a short date,” the CJI told Bhushan.

On November 13, last year, the top court said deceased pilot Captain Sabharwal of Air India was not blamed in the AAIB’s preliminary report into the crash.

It had also issued notice to the Centre and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on a plea of Pushkaraj Sabharwal, the father of Captain Sabharwal.

Pushkaraj Sabharwal and the Federation of Indian Pilots moved the Supreme Court for a court-monitored inquiry headed by a former apex court judge into the crash of the Air India flight.