The Supreme Court observed on Friday that no blame could be attributed to the pilot of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad in June this year, killing 260 people.
A Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal - the father of Commander Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the pilots of the ill-fated London-bound flight, seeking an independent judicial probe into the tragedy.
According to a Live Law report, appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued that the continuing investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau was non-independent: " I am the father of the Commander of the plane... I am 91 years old. This is a non-independent investigation. It should have been independent. It has taken four months.” The petition sought a judicially monitored inquiry under Rule 12 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules that require such investigations to be impartial.
Also Read | ‘Shift them to shelters’: Supreme Court orders stray removal from public spaces
The report further stated that the Bench, taking note of the submissions, issued notice to the Union Government and said the matter would be heard along with another related case on November 10.
‘Nobody can blame him for anything’
As per the report, during the hearing, Justice Surya Kant took note of the father's apprehension that his deceased son might be blamed for the accident. " It's extremely unfortunate, this crash, but you should not carry the burden that your son is being blamed. Nobody can blame him for anything," said Justice Kant.
Justice Bagchi added that no insinuation against the pilot was present in the preliminary AAIB report. “One pilot asked whether the fuel was cut off by the other; the other said no. There's no suggestion of fault in that report,” he clarified.
Sankaranarayanan also alluded to the safety concerns regarding Boeing aircraft around the world, asking that the Ahmedabad crash be viewed in that wider perspective.
However, Justice Bagchi remarked, if you challenge the investigation, you have to challenge the statutory provisions of the Act itself.”
Court slams ‘nasty reporting’ by foreign media
The report also stated that the petitioner referred to an article in the Wall Street Journal, which had allegedly suggested pilot error, quoting an unnamed Indian government source. The Bench expressed sharp criticism of foreign media coverage in response to this. "We are not bothered by foreign reports. Your remedy should then be before a foreign court,” Justice Bagchi said, while Justice Kant added, “That is nasty reporting. No one in India believes it was the pilot's fault."
Petition seeks independent probe
As per the Live Law reports, Sabharwal, along with the Federation of Indian Pilots, has demanded an independent investigation by a panel comprising aviation experts headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The petition had also sought to stay in the continuing inquiry by AAIB, citing conflict of interest and bias as the investigating team comprised officials from the DGCA and other aviation bodies that are under scrutiny themselves.
The Supreme Court, in September, had remarked upon selective leaks from the preliminary report of the AAIB and how they seemed to feed media speculation blaming the pilots. The Court termed such leaks “unfortunate” and called for complete confidentiality of the report until the final inquiry is completed.
