Deceased pilot not blamed for Ahmedabad plane crash: Centre to SC
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the pilot is not being blamed for the Ahmedabad plane crash that claimed 260 lives. During the hearing on Thursday, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government, saidthat no blame was being attributed to pilot or anyone for the plane crash. Any interference in the matter may be counterproductive to the ongoing investigation by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mehta told the apex court's two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. There is an international convention and civil aviation organisation. They have prepared mandatory steps to be taken in case of investigation of air crashes. There is a regime in place. Some foreigners are also victims. Those countries also send their representatives in the investigation, he said. The MCA has issued a press note that there is no blame attributed to anybody, Mehta told the Court. The law officer further contended that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) probe team into the plane crash was formed under the international regime and there is a statutory provision for it. After hearing this, the court observed that the AAIB inquiry is not for apportion blame on anyone. It is only to clarify the cause so that the same does not happen again, said Justice Bagchi. Senior lawyer, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the Captain's father, Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, said that the rules for a fair probe were not being followed. The regime that Mehta has mentioned has not been followed. That's the problem. It has not been properly followed, the lawyer submitted. Prashant Bhushan, lawyer for the NGO, Safety Matters Foundation, argued that serious accident that causes loss of lives require a court of enquiry and not just an investigation by AAIB. He also pointed to reported issues with Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Bhushan highlighted that it was very alarming. There have been many system failures in these 787s. Everybody flying in these aircrafts is at risk. The pilots association has said that these aircrafts need to be grounded immediately, he said. In the last hearing, the court bad observed that it wasextremely unfortunate that this crash took place, and opined that the father (Pushkaraj) should not carry this burden that the pilot was being blamed. The apex court also highlighted that the Pilot is not to be blamed for the incident. Italso issued notice to the Centre, DGCA and others after hearing the plea of Pushkar Raj Sabharwal andthe Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) seeking direction for the constitution of a panel for a judicially monitored probe into the horrific accident. TNIE reported on October 16 that Pushkaraj Sabharwaland FIP had moved the apex court seeking direction for the constitution of a panel for a judicially monitored probe into the horrific accident.
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