KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved the order on an appeal filed by Air India challenging the Single Bench verdict directing the airline company to provide `75 lakh compensation to the victims in Mangalore plane crash. A Division Bench comprising Justice C N Ramachandran Nair and Justice P S Gopinathan reserved the order after hearing the counsel for National Aviation Company (NAC) and Abdul Salam and Ramla, parents of B Muhammed Rafi, who died in the crash. The Single Bench verdict was on the basis of a petition filed by Rafi’s parents. 158 passengers and crew members were killed in the accident on May 22, 2010. NAC counsel argued that the liability of an air carrier for the death of a passenger consequent to an air accident is governed by the amended Carriage by Air Act to the exclusion of all other laws in force in India. So the Single Judge’s conclusion that the NAC has to pay `1 lakh SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) to each of the victims’ relatives was “totally inconsistent and contrary to relevant statutory provisions”.The appellant further argued that the conclusion arrived at by the court which cited the provisions of the Montreal Convention 1999 was unfair.
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