New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Friday, refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), praying for the appointment of a retired Apex Court judge to examine Air India’s safety practices among other aspects.
Asking the petitioner Narendra Kumar Goswami why he is targeting the airline that witnessed an “unfortunate tragedy” recently, the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed him to withdraw his PIL and move the appropriate forum in case of grievances.
“Don’t give the impression that you are playing with other airlines. Why target Air India only which recently witnessed an unfortunate tragedy? If you want some regulatory mechanism in place, then why did you not make other airlines as party in your petition? Why only Air India?” the Bench asked Goswami, who is a lawyer.
When Goswami replied that he was a victim of “some unfortunate incident” with the airline, Justice Kant said: “We also travel every week and know what is the status. There was a tragedy, a very unfortunate one. This is not a time to run down an airline.”
Goswami in his PIL, which he filed in July, sought directions for constituting an independent committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine Air India’s safety practices, maintenance procedures, and operational protocols, with a report to be submitted within three months.
He also sought a direction for a comprehensive safety audit of Air India’s entire fleet by an international aviation safety agency accredited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), addressing deficiencies identified in the 2024 ICAO audit report, to be completed within six months.
Additionally, Directorate General of Civil Aviation was sought to be directed to implement and enforce a transparent, publicly accessible reporting system for all aviation safety incidents, including a centralized database, ensuring compliance with the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and international best practices.
The petition also sought a direction to Air India to provide compensation to the families of AI-171 crash victims in accordance with the Montreal Convention, 1999, and to offer ex-gratia payments or compensation to passengers of AI-143 for distress and inconvenience caused by the safety incident, as per applicable laws and industry standards.
AI-171 was the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick in London that crashed seconds after take-off on June 12, killing 260 people, including 229 passengers. A few days later, on June 17, AI-143 – an Air India flight from Delhi to Paris – had to be cancelled after pilots detected a technical snag during pre-flight checks.
