Lawyer moves SC to probe Mirage 2000 crash in B'luru

A lawyer on Wednesday approached the SC seeking a direction to set up a monitoring committee of a retired judge and experts to conduct a thorough probe into the unfortunate incident of the crash of Mirage Aircraft on February 1 and to suggest measures for avoiding such mishaps in future.

Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava said the petition was filed in the wake of a “sad and unfortunate incident” of the crash of a Mirage Aircraft of Indian Air Force, in which two bright and ace pilots, namely, Squadron Leader Sameer Abrol and Squadron Leader Siddharth Negi lost their lives.

“In view of the alarmingly increase in the number of crashes of various aircraft and helicopters belonging to the Indian Armed Forces in the recent times, leading to loss of precious lives of a number of air warriors, the petitioner has preferred the instant PIL,” he said.

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The issue involved is a sheer violation of fundamental rights of the victims of Indian Air Force jet crash, as enshrined within Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, amongst others, he contended.

Srivastava sought a direction to fix the accountabilities of the erring government officials and other persons leading to such incidents of aircraft crash of Indian Armed Forces.

He contended that appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that such unfortunate incidents do not recur in future.

The petitioner cited news reports stating that the Armed Forces have lost over 35 aircraft and Helicopters in crashes, which claimed over 45 lives in 2015-16 alone. “If figures since 2011 are considered, then the IAF, Army and Navy have recorded accidents of over 75 aircraft and Helicopters, which have killed over 80 people,” he pointed out.