In a landmark judgement, the Kerala High Court Wednesday ordered Air India to pay a minimum of Rs7.5 million (Dh613,063) as compensation to each of the families of the 158 people who perished in the Mangalore air crash last year.
Justice P.R. Ramachandran Menon issued the ruling following a petition filed by the family of Mohammad Rafi, who lost his life in the accident.
The decision comes as a relief for hundreds of traumatised families who lost their dear ones when the Air India Express flight 812 from Dubai to Mangalore overshot the runway while landing at the Bajpe airport, about 20km from Mangalore, and caught fire after plunging down a cliff.
The court observed that India being a signatory of the Montreal Convention, a tier compensation should be paid as required by the international law and directed the airline’s parent body National Aviation Company to pay the Rs7.5 million for each life lost in a month’s time.
This court also directed the airline to pay the other claims the families are rightfully entitled to as per the international treaty, according to Sreedharan Nair, who is representing Mohammad Rafi's relatives.
"For my client I had claimed Rs15 million... It is the insurance companies that pay," Nair told IANS.
The families earlier received Rs1million from the civil aviation ministry as an interim compensation, which would be deducted from the amount of compensation the airline is ordered to pay to each victim’s family.
The Karnataka government offered Rs300,000 as compensation while the Prime Minister's Relief Fund announced another Rs200,000.
As many as 158 people, including crew, children and women lost their lives in the tragic crash on May 22, 2010.