<p>New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said no blame could be attributed to the pilot of the Air India flight to London that crashed in Ahmedabad in June this year, claiming 260 lives</p>.<p>It said: “Whatever is the cause of the tragedy, the pilot is not the cause.”</p>.<p>A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal — the father of Commander Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the pilots of the ill-fated flight — seeking a judicially monitored committee headed by a former judge of the apex court to conduct a probe into the crash.</p>.<p>The plea, filed by Sabharwal with the Federation of Indian Pilots, contended that the preliminary investigation into the crash was profoundly flawed. </p>.<p>Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayana, representing the petitioners, contended that his clients sought an impartial investigation as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe was not independent.</p>.<p>He asked the bench to direct a judicially monitored probe under Rule 12 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, which mandates impartiality in accident investigations.</p>.'Very painful, I'm broken': Sole survivor of Air India plane crash appeals for welfare package to cope with trauma.<p>Hearing the counsel, the bench said: “It is extremely unfortunate that this accident took place and he lost his son… But he should not carry this burden that his son is being accused or blamed… We will clarify; nobody can blame him for anything.”</p>.<p>Sankaranarayana cited an article carried by the Wall Street Journal based on information from the AAIB investigation. </p>.<p>“We are not bothered about what a foreign press… Your suit should have been against WSJ in an American court,” the bench said.</p>.<p>The counsel said on August 3, respondent number 3, who did the preliminary investigation, sent two officers to the house of his client, who is now 91. </p>.<p>He said officers told his client that therefore his son had depression, while criticising the conduct of the investigators.</p>.<p>The bench noted that India was a country of 142 crore people. “None of them have any belief that there was any fault with the pilot. Whatever is the cause of the tragedy, the pilot is not the cause,” the bench said. </p>.<p>Upon hearing submissions, the court sought a response from the Central government and agreed to take up the matter, along with a related plea, on November 10.</p>
<p>New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said no blame could be attributed to the pilot of the Air India flight to London that crashed in Ahmedabad in June this year, claiming 260 lives</p>.<p>It said: “Whatever is the cause of the tragedy, the pilot is not the cause.”</p>.<p>A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal — the father of Commander Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the pilots of the ill-fated flight — seeking a judicially monitored committee headed by a former judge of the apex court to conduct a probe into the crash.</p>.<p>The plea, filed by Sabharwal with the Federation of Indian Pilots, contended that the preliminary investigation into the crash was profoundly flawed. </p>.<p>Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayana, representing the petitioners, contended that his clients sought an impartial investigation as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe was not independent.</p>.<p>He asked the bench to direct a judicially monitored probe under Rule 12 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, which mandates impartiality in accident investigations.</p>.'Very painful, I'm broken': Sole survivor of Air India plane crash appeals for welfare package to cope with trauma.<p>Hearing the counsel, the bench said: “It is extremely unfortunate that this accident took place and he lost his son… But he should not carry this burden that his son is being accused or blamed… We will clarify; nobody can blame him for anything.”</p>.<p>Sankaranarayana cited an article carried by the Wall Street Journal based on information from the AAIB investigation. </p>.<p>“We are not bothered about what a foreign press… Your suit should have been against WSJ in an American court,” the bench said.</p>.<p>The counsel said on August 3, respondent number 3, who did the preliminary investigation, sent two officers to the house of his client, who is now 91. </p>.<p>He said officers told his client that therefore his son had depression, while criticising the conduct of the investigators.</p>.<p>The bench noted that India was a country of 142 crore people. “None of them have any belief that there was any fault with the pilot. Whatever is the cause of the tragedy, the pilot is not the cause,” the bench said. </p>.<p>Upon hearing submissions, the court sought a response from the Central government and agreed to take up the matter, along with a related plea, on November 10.</p>
