Dadri air collision: Court rejects aid plea

The Delhi HC dismisses a petition filed by the husband of a victim killed in a mid-air collision of a Saudi Airlines flight with a Kazakhstan Airlines over Charkhi Dadri seeking compensation from the Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation.

Twelve years after a mid-air collision of a Saudi Airlines flight with a Kazakhstan Airlines over Charkhi Dadri claimed 349 lives, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by the husband of a victim seeking compensation from the Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation.

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The Saudi company succeeded in convincing the court that Mansoor Mumtaz could not file the suit seeking compensation without taking the permission of the Indian government. Damages of more than Rs 5 lakh had been claimed. “We agree with the submission of the defendant (Saudi Arabian Airlines) as it is clear from the records that on the date of filing of the suit in 1998, there was no compliance of section 86 of CPC (permission of Centre to file suits against foreign state, ambassadors and envoys) and the appellant had got permission in 2002 after a single judge had dismissed his suit,” said a Division Bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Manmohan Singh in a judgement.

Upholding a single judge’s order, the Bench rejected the submission of the counsel for Mansoor Mumtaz that his client had obtained the Indian government's permission in 2002 and said “we feel that the suit itself is not maintainable on the date of its institution.”