Air Blue must pay Rs5.41bn to 2010 Islamabad plane crash victims, rules court

Islamabad’s District and Sessions Courts have dismissed all eight appeals filed by private airline Air Blue in connection with the 2010 plane crash, while ordering the airline to pay compensation amounting to PKR 5.41 billion to the victims.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Dr. Rasool Bakhsh Mirjat issued the written verdict, which also addressed eight appeals filed by the victims. The court ruled on civil claims for damages arising from the air crash, imposing an additional fine of PKR 1 million per appeal on Air Blue, totaling PKR 8 million.

According to the written decision, compensation will be disbursed as follows: Samira Naveed Chaudhry and two others – PKR 143.189 million; Rashid Zulfiqar and four others – PKR 630.94 million; Muhammad Ilyas – PKR 1,101.868 million; Gohar Rehman – PKR 507.348 million; Junaid Alzaman Hamid – PKR 996.048 million; Muhammad Javed Khan – PKR 857.025 million; Salima Rajput – PKR 572.666 million; and Colonel (R) Shamim Akhtar – PKR 606 million.

The victims had previously appealed the civil judge’s decision, which had allowed partial compensation capped at PKR 10 million per person. The court also fined Air Blue for filing unnecessary applications and wasting judicial time.

Previously, appeals by the victims were also under consideration in the High Court, which later returned the matter to the jurisdiction of the sessions court.