Air India crash: Supreme Court agrees to hear pleas seeking independent probe

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) around the investigation of the Air India plane crash that occurred on June 12 last year. The crash of Flight AI171, which killed 260 people, is being questioned by an NGO for allegedly violating citizens' fundamental rights. The NGO claims the official probe wasn't thorough enough.Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO 'Safety Matters Foundation', told the court that neither the government nor the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) had responded to the petition. He said, "The entire pilots association are saying there is a problem in the Boeing 787 aircraft which needs to be grounded." The apex court is currently handling three separate petitions seeking an independent investigation. These include requests from the NGO, a law student, and Captain Sabharwal's father. The pilots' federation has specifically asked for a court-monitored inquiry led by a former Supreme Court judge. While SC agreed to hear the pleas, no date has been given yet. “SIR (hearing on pleas related to special intensive revision of electoral rolls pleas) will be over today, and we will give you a short date,” the CJI told Bhushan.Earlier, on November 13, the court had noted that the AAIB's preliminary report didn't blame Captain Sabharwal for the crash. However, the court criticised the selective publication of this report, calling it "unfortunate and irresponsible" as it created a misleading media narrative about pilot error.Bhushan argued that such a major accident requires a more thorough court of inquiry rather than just an AAIB investigation. The Chief Justice has promised to schedule a hearing soon, after completing the current special intensive revision of electoral rolls cases.The Boeing 787-8 aircraft, piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Captain Clive Kunder, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad while heading to London's Gatwick airport. Among the victims were 169 Indians, 52 Britons, seven Portuguese, one Canadian, and 12 crew members. Only one person, British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh, survived.