ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday noted that according to the judicial commission’s report, sheer negligence of Bhoja Airline led to the crash of its plane killing 152 people onboard.
Bhoja Airline’s flight 213 had crashed during landing at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad in 2012, killing all 146 passengers and six crew members onboard.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the crash of Air Blue, PIA and Bhoja Airline planes and nonpayment of compensations to the legal heirs of the victims.
The court directed the police to investigate Bhoja Airline plane crash incident as per the FIR within six weeks and submit challan in the trial court.T he court also directed the high courts and other courts where the cases of Bhoja Air crash are pending to decide those in one month.
During the hearing, the federal government submitted a report in the court which stated that the defunct Bhoja Air committed a series of violations including the initiation of its operations ‘when the company was financially not in the soundest of health and seemed not to possess requisite infrastructure’. The report stated that the defunct Bhoja Airline had asked the Civil Association Authority (CAA) to grant the doomed aircraft permission to fly without an airworthiness certificate.”Neither was the airplane certified to carry passengers nor was the crew trained to handle emergency situations such as analysing rough weather,” the report added. It said the pilot was neither given relevant training for the job nor did he have enough experience to fly a commercial carrier.
During the proceedings, the counsel for PIA apprised the court that families of all the victims had been compensated except for one who has filed a suit against the national carrier.
Counsel for Bhoja Air apprised the court that they had paid all the affectees. However, counsel for the affectees said that one of the accused nominated in the FIR is out on bail. The court then directed that the cases against those who are out on bail should be decided within a month.
The counsel of Air Blue, one of whose aircraft crashed near Islamabad in 2010 and left all 146 people onboard dead, informed the court that all the affectees have been compensated except six as they chose not to take the compensation money.
The chief justice then noted that it is the right of the affectees to claim compensation. The counsel of the victims’ families informed the court that his clients are ready to accept compensation but the matter is under litigation in civil courts.
The chief justice noted that the management of Air Blue was directed to deposit the compensation funds with the apex court registrar, but it only deposited cheques. He also noted that the Air Blue management kept the money with itself and earned mark-up on it. The court also imposed aRs50,000 fine on Air Blue for not submitting its response to the court on time. The court directed that the compensatory cheques should be encashed and the money should be invested in a profitable scheme.
The court directed that after summer vacations of the courts, the civil cases should be heard and disposed of within three months. Later, the court adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.
Published in Daily Times, July 3rd 2018.