A district & sessions court on Saturday rejected an application seeking the registration of an FIR against Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) chief Air Marshal (retd) Arshad Malik, the PIA’s chief engineer, ground engineers and other technical staff related to the aircraft that had crashed on May 22.
The PIA flight PK-8303 had arrived in Karachi from Lahore when it crashed in the Jinnah Garden Housing Society in the Model Colony neighbourhood near the Karachi airport.
Ninety-nine passengers were on board, of whom only two survived. The investigators, including the makers of the Airbus A320, have been trying to ascertain the reasons behind the deadliest plane crash in years.
Advocate Qadir Khan Mandokhail and his associate Rizwan Khanzada moved the application before the East district & sessions judge, saying that there was a grave lapse on the part of the PIA’s technical team that gave flight clearance to the aircraft at the Lahore airport.
They said the decision later had devastating effects apparently because of landing gear and engine failures. They also said that the necessary steps and formalities to check the aircraft were neglected, for which the aviation ministry, the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were responsible.
They expressed no confidence in the local investigators and feared that they might cover up the “crime” to save the authorities. They urged the inclusion of international experts in the investigation.
The applicants said that any delay in prosecution may benefit the people responsible. They demanded the recovery of the missing cockpit voice recorder, and the release of the information from the black box of the crashed plane for a fair and transparent inquiry.
They held the aviation minister, who oversees the CAA, and the PIA chief responsible for the crash. Mandokhail said he had submitted a complaint to the Model Colony SHO, but he had refused to register an FIR.
He said that a complaint was also made to the East SSP’s office, but in vain. The applicants asked the court to direct the respondents under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code to register an FIR against the federal minister, the PIA chief and the airline’s staff.
After hearing the arguments from the applicants and the deputy district public prosecutor, the judge ordered: “Criminal Miscellaneous Application is dismissed in terms of the order.”
