Charkhi Dadri crash: family loses fight for more relief

New Delhi: Over a decade after the Charkhi Dadri mid-air crash, the family of one of the victims of the “deadliest air collision” in history has lost its appeal for compensation from the Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The family lost the legal battle due to a single technicality of law that Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation is a public body “wholly owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”. In short, the airline is out of bounds for Indian courts without prior sanction from the Centre, as the family of Farah Mumtaz, one of the passengers on board the Saudi Arabian Airlines flight on that fateful night, learnt on Friday. In fact, Section 86 (suits against foreign rulers, ambassadors and envoys) of the Civil Procedure Code states: “No foreign state may be sued in any court except with the consent of the Central Government certified in writing by a Secretary to that Government.”
In a legal battle which started in 1998, the Mumtaz family claimed enhanced damages of “2,60,000 Francs equivalent to 17,030 grams of gold”, as valued at the time of the judgment. As per the High Court, the Airlines had already paid Mumtaz’s heirs over Rs 7.40 lakh.
The appeal before the Division Bench came after a Single Judge of the Delhi High Court in July 2001 found the relatives’ plea “not maintainable” as they had failed to take prior permission from the Government to sue the Airlines.Perusing the evidence on record, a Bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and J R Midha found that though the Airline Corporation is a “public and independent organisation”, it was still “attached” to the Saudi Ministry of Defence and Aviation.
11/08/08 Krishnadas Rajagopal/Indian Express

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Categories: Foreign Aug 2008, Safety Aug 2008