PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has set a deadline of six months for the federal government to produce the final report of investigation into the Dec 2016 Pakistan International Airlines plane crash near Havelian, which had killed 47 people on board, including crew members.

A bench consisting of Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Mussarat Hilali ordered the aviation secretary and PIA chairman to submit the sought-after report before the end of Dec 2019.

It issued the order on a petition jointly filed last year by the then Chitral MNA, Shahzada Iftikharuddin, and Adnan Khan, whose brother Salman was killed in the plane crash.

The bench fixed Jan 15, 2020, for the next hearing warning that the government’s failure to produce the final investigation report within the stipulated time would be tantamount to committing a contempt of court and in that case, the court would deal with the matter under the law.

The petitioners requested the court to issue directions for the release of the final investigation report and payment of compensation to the legal heirs of crash victims.

Warns govt of contempt proceedings over non-compliance

The flight PK-661, which was an ATR 42-500 aircraft, had taken off from the Chitral airport on Dec 7, 2016, for Islamabad but it crashed near Havelian killing all 47 people on board, including singer-turned-religious preacher Junaid Jamshed and Chitral deputy commissioner Osama Warraich.

Barrister Asadul Mulk appeared for the petitioners, while advocates Asad Jamal Qureshi and Mehmood Alam Khan represented the Civil Aviation Authority and PIA, respectively.

The respondents’ lawyers sought more time for the production of the final probe report saying some parts of the crashed plane, including black box, had been sent to France for examination.

They claimed that PIA had already discharged all their monetary liabilities towards crash victims.

Barrister Asadul Mulk pointed out that not all liabilities had been discharged as under the Carriage by Air Act, 2012, Rs5 million was the minimum quantum in respect of which liability could not be excluded but it did not represent the upper limit.

“Should the final report reveal negligence on part of the carrier, then in such a scenario, the Carriage by Air Act, 2012, allowed every individual to quantify his or her losses separately, which will be treated as additional to Rs5 million already extended,” he said.

The court observed that in view of the clear legal position, the final investigation report couldn’t be held back indefinitely, especially if it was likely to give a further cause of action to the aggrieved families to seek additional compensation.

Barrister Asadul Mulk said the petitioners being aware that investigation into the causes of the crash of PK-661, like any other air crash investigation, would take time, patiently waited for the final report.

He said his clients were initially informed by the PIA and CAA verbally through their employees and agents that the investigation would take a few months but they were told afterward that the report would be released within a year.

The lawyer complained that more than two years had passed but the respondents were still unwilling to committing themselves to a timeline and propose a date or a tentative date for the release of the final investigation report of the tragic plane crash.

He said as a result of non-disclosure, not only families of the victims are being kept in the dark but their right to make an informed decision regarding whom to sue and on what grounds was being forcefully forfeited.

The lawyer said the failure to disclose necessary or relevant information and the final investigation report about the causes of the crash was a violation of the Article 19-A of the Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of information.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2019