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Kerala High Court orders Air India to pay Rs.75 lakh to kin of crash victims

Kerala High Court orders Air India to pay Rs.75 lakh to kin of crash victims


Mangalore Today News Network

Kerala, July 20 : In a significant judgement, the Kerala High Court on July 20, Wednesday, has ruled that the families of the victims of the May 22, 2010 Air India Express crash in Mangalore are entitled to a minimum compensation of Rs 75 lakh each. The court has ruled that Air India was liable to pay no fault liability of one lakh SDR (Special Drawing Rights equal to Rs 75 lakh) to the petitioner.


The ruling comes in the wake of a writ filed by the parents of one of the victims of the air crash. Abdul Salam and Ramla, parents of B Mohammad Rafi (24) who was killed in the crash, had filed the writ.The petitioners prayed for a direction to settle the entire statutory claims made under the provision of the Air Act 1972.They had sought Rs 1.5 crore as compensation. The Air India had offered Rs 35 lakh as compensation to the family which however had  refused it.


mangalore air crash july 20


Passing the judgement, Justice PR Ramachandran has directed the Air India to pay the total compensation amounting to Rs 124 crore within a month.


Noting that India was a signatory to the Montreal Convention, the court said, "It is clear that the intention of lawmakers was to bring about a parity in the matter of payment of compensation to the passengers, irrespective of class of travel, while providing for a ’two tier system’ of compensation as adopted in Montreal convention."


The brothers and sisters of the deceased are also party to the petition. Union Government and National Aviation Company (erstwhile Air India) are the respondents in the case.


It may be recalled here that majority of the air crash victims’ families, have been demanding higher compensation than what is being provided by the legal counsels of Air India.

This issue has been the bone of contention between Air India legal counsel and the Mangalore Air Crash Victims’ Families Association, set up to fight the cause of victims of the  crash. The association claims Montreal convention mandates one lakh SDR and not `up to one lakh SDR’.


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