The Supreme Court on Friday told the father of late Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the Pilot-in-Command of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad in June, killing 260 people, that “nobody in the country believes it was the pilot’s fault.”
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made the remark while hearing a plea filed by 91-year-old Pushkar Sabharwal, who has sought an independent and technically sound probe into the crash, monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge.
Expressing sympathy, the Bench assured the petitioner that his son was not being blamed for the tragedy. “It’s extremely unfortunate that this crash took place, but you (the father) should not carry this burden that your son is being blamed.
Nobody can blame him for anything,” Justice Surya Kant said during the hearing. Justice Bagchi added, “There is no insinuation against the pilot so far. The investigation report merely records the communication between the two pilots, it does not apportion blame.”
Through senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the petitioner argued that only a preliminary investigation under Rule 9 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules had been carried out, whereas a full, independent probe under Rule 11 was required.
He also pointed to a report in a national daily that, he said, relied on unnamed Indian sources to hint at pilot error. Justice Bagchi responded, “Then your suit should have been against the report. The insinuation in the press requires an appropriate forum, not a writ petition.”
The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and other authorities, seeking their responses on the plea. Justice Surya Kant told the petitioner, “Whatever may be the cause of the tragedy, the pilot is not the cause.” The matter will next be heard on November 10.
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