SHC orders PIA to pay Rs100m to crash victim’s family

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed the PIA to pay Rs100 million as compensation along with interest to the family of a deceased doctor who died in Multan PIA Fokker plane crash.

The direction came on a Rs154 million lawsuit for damages filed against the Civil Aviation Authority and Pakistan International Airlines by the widow of Dr. Altaf Hussain who died in Multan Fokker air crash in July 2006. The Fokker F-27, on a flight from Multan to Lahore, had crashed on July 10, 2006, killing all the 45 passengers and the crew.

Dr. Naheed Fatima had sued PIA and CAA for negligence that caused the death of her spouse Dr. Altaf Hussain, Assistant Professor and Head of Psychiatry Department, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, in the crash. Her counsel Nasir Maqssod submitted that precautionary measures were not adopted by the defendants prior to operating the flight and the Fokker was allowed to fly by the defendants in a careless and negligent manner. The counsel submitted that the CAA inquiry report proved that the incident occurred due to negligence of the pilot, however, the defendants did not pay the compensation to the heirs of the victim in accordance with the international law.

The SHC’s single bench headed by Justice Mahmood A Khan after hearing the case observed that PIA is responsible for the negligence that caused death of the plaintiff’s spouse and directed the PIA to pay Rs.100 million as compensation along with Rs.2.6 million as interest. The court observed that denial of paying compensation to the plaintiff is not a decent act by the defendant and the defendant will have face contempt proceedings if the order is not complied with.