Air India appeal challenging compensation for air crash dismissed

Twenty three years after a gruesome plane crash of 1988 near Ahmedabad, in which 130 persons were reportedly killed, the family of a deceased get relief as Gujarat High Court has dismissed Air India Limited’s appeal challenging an order to pay compensation to them.
The bench comprising Justices Jayant Patel and RM Chhaya has dismissed the airline’s appeal against judgment and decree passed by the trial court in September, 2009. The trial court had ordered the company to pay Rs 7.80 lakh with 9 percent interest to each of families of the deceased.
Air India Limited {which was previously known as National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL)} challenged the trial court’s order on grounds of limitation.
However, the bench said the petition was meritless and deserved to be rejected. “…the aspect of liability to pay compensation are already covered by the decision of this court in the case of Airport Authority of India vs.10 Shirishbhai Shah (reported in 2010(1) GLR 321, the appeal is meritless. Hence the same is dismissed.”
The case concerns the claim filed by legal representatives of deceased Tejraj Jain, who was travelling from Bombay to Ahmedabad on 10 October 1988, by Indian Airlines, run by NACIL. The flight met with an accident near Ahmedabad in which many persons died. Soon after the accident, the airline authorities asked legal heirs of the deceased to supply information and to draw the claim. The company offered to pay Rs. 2 lakhs towards the full and final settlement for death of the deceased. However, the families of the deceased suggested that the sum should be paid subject to the final decision by competent court. As the airline didn’t accept it, the families refused to take the amount offered to them.
The families then approached the high court for recovery of damages as well as challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of Carriage by Air Act, 1972. Their petitions were ordered to be converted into civil suits for claim of compensation and were remitted to civil court.
In a judgment made available today, the bench noted, “The counsel appearing for the appellant has not been able to show any distinguishing aspect on merits to the extent of liability, save and except that as per his contention, against the decision of this court in case of Airport Authority of India, the matter is carried before the Apex court and is pending.”
The airline’s counsel, Mihir Joshi raised the issue of limitation and submitted that this issue was not dealt in the earlier suit which came to be decided by the civil court and was confirmed by this court. He contended that merely because the writ proceedings were converted into civil proceedings, it could not be said that the question of limitation would not arise. However, court refused to accept his submissions and dismissed the appeal stating that there was no delay in the petitioners initially approaching the court.

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