New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) A letter petition has been sent to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), B.R. Gavai, urging the Supreme Court to take suo moto action on the devastating crash of Air India flight near Ahmedabad on Thursday.

The plea seeks judicial intervention to ensure timely relief, justice, and systemic reform following the loss of numerous innocent lives, including resident doctors from Ahmedabad’s BJMC Medical College.

It also seeks directions to the Union government to immediately announce and disburse interim compensation of Rs 50 lakh to each family of the deceased victims, including the victims or resident doctors.

“The tragic loss of young medical students in the Air India Flight A1171 crash represents not just individual tragedies but a collective loss to our healthcare system. These students were training to become doctors who would serve the nation’s health needs, particularly in underserved areas,” said the letter petition filed through advocate Satayam Singh, adding the compensation sought is not charity but a fundamental responsibility of the state toward its citizens.

It prayed for additional rehabilitation support, including employment opportunities to eligible family members of the deceased in the tragic incident.

The plea sought directions to the Central government to constitute a high-level expert committee comprising retired Supreme Court/High Court judges, aviation experts, actuaries, and economists to assess and award final compensation to the families of victims. Also, it sought direction to Air India to expedite the settlement of compensation claims without requiring families to undergo prolonged litigation.

The plea also prayed for guidelines to enhance security measures at medical colleges and hospitals across the country to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future, and for framing comprehensive guidelines for the protection of medical professionals and institutions.

Shortly after Air India Flight AI171 took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, en route to London’s Gatwick Airport, the aircraft went down near Ahmedabad’s Meghani Nagar area. The black box of Air India’s Flight AI171 has been recovered, and investigations have begun to find out the cause of the crash. Indian investigators will be joined by experts from the US and UK in the coming days to carry out the probe. Meanwhile, experienced pilots are of the view that it could have been a twin-engine failure of the Boeing Dreamliner, which could be due to a bird hit or contaminated fuel or blockage of fuel or a combination of these factors.

–IANS

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