New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) What is your “deep-rooted agenda”, an irate Supreme Court asked a petitioner on Wednesday while dismissing his plea related to the preliminary investigation report on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad last June.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also refused to accept the petitioner’s contention that authorities be directed to treat his plea as a representation.
The petitioner had challenged a February 25 order of the Delhi High Court that rejected a PIL seeking that information on the “complete sequence of events” leading to the crash be included in the preliminary investigation report.
“What is your deep-rooted agenda? As if we don’t understand the motive. The people who lost their lives, their family members are not filing (petitions) but you are filing,” an anguished CJI told the counsel appearing for the petitioner.
On June 12 last year, Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical college hostel complex shortly after take off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft burst into flames, killing 241 out of 242 people onboard and 19 people on the ground The petitioner had urged the high court to “read down” the preliminary investigation report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and direct the authorities to modify the report to include the time-chart of “flame out” of engines and transition of fuel switches, whether mechanical or manual.
The high court said the PIL, which had also sought a direction to the bureau to publish such information in public domain, was “highly misconceived”.
Observing that the petitioner should have taken recourse available to him under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the high court said, “Such prayer in our considered opinion cannot be granted.” If such information is worthy of being given under the RTI Act, it would be provided, the high court said. PTI ABA SJK ABA MIN MIN
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