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Victims’ kin move SC for relief hike
Eighteen months after the tragic Mangalore air crash snuffed out 158 lives, the kith and kin of the deceased, upset with the Government’s compensation package, approached the Supreme Court on Tuesday demanding a minimum of Rs75 lakh compensation to each of the victims.
Offered with Rs35 lakh full and final compensation by National Aviation Company of India (now called Air India Limited), five victims approached the apex court demanding parity with international standards of compensation provided under the Montreal Convention of 1999.
Since India has incorporated the Convention under its Carriage by Air Act, the victims represented by senior advocate Harish Salve demanded a sum equivalent to 1.13 lakh SDR (special drawing rights), which works out to about Rs 75 lakh, a currency issued by the International Monetary Fund. A single judge of Kerala High Court had accepted this plea of the victims but the division bench on August 25, 2011 shot down the claim.
Air India Express Flight 812, coming from Dubai, had skidded off the Bajpe International Airport runway in Mangalore on May 22, 2010 leading to death of 158 persons and injuries to eight others including crew members.
Given the sensitivity of the matter along with the fact that the law regarding compensation in aviation tragedies was not settled, the bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India Limited. Solicitor General Rohington Nariman who appeared for the Centre undertook to file response in the case.
Eighteen months after the tragic Mangalore air crash snuffed out 158 lives, the kith and kin of the deceased, upset with the Government’s compensation package, approached the Supreme Court on Tuesday demanding a minimum of Rs75 lakh compensation to each of the victims.
Offered with Rs35 lakh full and final compensation by National Aviation Company of India (now called Air India Limited), five victims approached the apex court demanding parity with international standards of compensation provided under the Montreal Convention of 1999.
Since India has incorporated the Convention under its Carriage by Air Act, the victims represented by senior advocate Harish Salve demanded a sum equivalent to 1.13 lakh SDR (special drawing rights), which works out to about Rs 75 lakh, a currency issued by the International Monetary Fund. A single judge of Kerala High Court had accepted this plea of the victims but the division bench on August 25, 2011 shot down the claim.
Air India Express Flight 812, coming from Dubai, had skidded off the Bajpe International Airport runway in Mangalore on May 22, 2010 leading to death of 158 persons and injuries to eight others including crew members.
Given the sensitivity of the matter along with the fact that the law regarding compensation in aviation tragedies was not settled, the bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India Limited. Solicitor General Rohington Nariman who appeared for the Centre undertook to file response in the case.
