An Islamabad district court has delivered a landmark verdict, compelling the private airline Airblue to pay over 5.41 billion rupees in compensation to the families affected by the tragic 2010 plane crash. The court dismissed all appeals filed by the carrier and imposed significant fines for its conduct during the lengthy legal process.
Court Dismisses Appeals and Imposes Fines
The District and Sessions Court in Islamabad issued the final ruling, rejecting a total of eight separate appeals submitted by Airblue. In a strong rebuke, the court not only dismissed these appeals but also imposed a penalty of 1 million rupees on each one, bringing the total fine to 8 million rupees. The court criticized the airline for repeatedly filing appeals, stating that this action had wasted valuable judicial time and delayed justice for the victims' families.
Breakdown of the Compensation Award
The compensation, amounting to 5.41 billion rupees (approximately $19.5 million), is to be distributed among the families and individuals who suffered from the crash. The detailed breakdown of the court-ordered compensation is as follows:
- Sumera Naveed Choudhry and two others: 143.189 million rupees.
- Rashid Zulfiqar and four others: 630.94 million rupees.
- Muhammad Ilyas: 1.101 billion rupees.
- Gohar Rehman: 507.348 million rupees.
- Junaiduz Zaman Hamid: 996.048 million rupees.
- Muhammad Javed Khan: 857.025 million rupees.
- Mst. Salima Rajput: 572.666 million rupees.
- Retired Colonel Shamim Akhtar: 606 million rupees.
Long Legal Battle and Pending Matters
This ruling is the culmination of a long-standing civil claim against Airblue concerning its responsibility for the July 2010 disaster, where an aircraft crashed near Islamabad, resulting in the loss of many lives. The families had initially challenged a civil judge's earlier decision, which had awarded a maximum of only 10 million rupees per victim. While the district court has now issued this final decision on Airblue's appeals, separate appeals filed by the victims themselves remain pending before the Islamabad High Court. The High Court had previously referred the case back to the district court for this conclusive verdict.
The court's decision underscores a significant step towards closure for the affected families, holding the airline accountable after years of legal challenges. Airblue's lawyers had contested the compensation amounts but were ultimately unsuccessful in persuading the court.
