Thiruvananthapuram: The families of victims of the Air India Express crash in Mangalore last year are entitled to a minimum compensation of Rs 75 lakh each, the Kerala High Court held today.
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ruled that the families of the victims of the Air India Express crash in Mangalore last year should get a minimum compensation of Rs 75 lakh each.
The order was passed by Justice P R Ramachandran Menon on a petition filed by Abdul Salam and Ramla, parents of B Mohammed Rafi, 24, of Kasargod who died in the crash.
In all, 158 passengers and crew of the Air India Express flight from Dubai had died when it crash-landed on Mangalore airport’s table-top runway and plunged into the nearby forests on May 22, 2010.
The court said Air India was liable to pay no-fault liability of one lakh SDR (Special Drawing Rights which converts to Rs 75 lakh) to the petitioner apart from whatever other compensation they were entitled to. The SDR is a special currency issued by the International Monetary Fund.
This is the highest ever relief given to the families of the victims in an air crash in India.
The petitioners had sought a compensation of Rs 1.5 crore under the provision of the Air Act 1972 from the respondents, the Union Government and National Aviation Company.
The court noted that India was a signatory to the Montreal Convention and, hence, it was clear that the intention of lawmakers was to bring about parity in the payment of compensation to the passengers. This was irrespective of class of travel, while providing for a “two-tier system” of compensation as adopted in the convention.
The “first limb” of compensation as stipulated under Rule 21(1) of the Third schedule was with the said intent to provide the same as the “minimum compensation” payable in respect of death or the bodily injuries subject to the satisfaction of extent of damage, the court said.
“Since the extent of damage to any injury cannot be anything more than death, no further proof is necessary to have sanctioned the minimum compensation of one lakh SDR’’ in the case of death and this was the mandate of the Statute.
20/07/11 Deccan Herald
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