Mourners pay tribute near the Airblue Flight 202 crash site at Margalla Hills point in Islamabad on August 1, 2010. —File Photo

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday issued contempt of court notices to the Secretary Defense and the Director General (DG) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the Airblue air crash case, DawnNews reported.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth was hearing a writ petition filed by former MNA Marvi Memon and some family members of victims of the July 28, 2010 Airblue crash in Islamabad.  The tragic accident had left 152 persons dead.

The bench also issued orders for suspension of the serving Director General of the CAA.

Two major air accidents have happened during the serving Defence Minister’s term, and now it is up to him to decide whether he values his ministry more or pleople’s lives, remarked Justice Dost Mohammad.

Ordering the families of the crash victims to be compensated within 20 days, Just Dost Mohammad warned that if the airline did not ensure the families were compensated by the stated time, its flying licence would be revoked.

Any delay in payments to the affected families would be considered a criminal act, and would be dealt with accordingly, he added.

Furthermore, the court on Wednesday also issued a show cause notice to the Managing Director (MD) of ill-fated Bhoja Airlines.

If the court’s orders were taken seriously then the Bhoja air accident would not have taken place, Justice Dost Mohammad said, adding that the court had issued inspection of all planes being operated in the country, but the orders were never implemented.

All 127 people on board the ill-fated flight number B4-213 had lost their lives as the plane, belonging to Bhoja Air, crashed near Islamabad on the evening of April 20.

The Peshawar High Court judge further remarked that the Civial Aviation Authority was not serious in implementing its orders.