Chitral Times Report
PESHAWAR: It indeed is unfortunate that, after a lapse of almost four years into the Islamabad bound PIA plan – PK 661 crash near Hawalian on 7th December 2016, the families of the 47 victims are yet to know the real cause of the incident. Although the initial report was released on July 25th, 2020, which claimed that the incident took place due to ill maintenance of the aircraft that caused the engine failure, however the complete report is awaited up to this day. It is worth noting here that, the investigation team suggested that the national flag-carrier should hold an audit of the airline and to strictly follow the rules regarding aircrafts’ maintenance and be very careful in the future to avoid such mishaps.
.
Subsequently, the then Member National Assembly from District Chitral, Mr. Shahzada Iftikhar Ud Din and Adnan Zain Ul Abidin, brother of one of the victims of the fateful flight, filed a case through Barrister Shahzada Asad Ul Mulk in Peshawar High Court against PIA on behalf of the families of all the victims, demanding for a more in-depth and transparent enquiry into the incident and pleaded for the complete investigative report to be made public.
.
Eventually, the case was decided by the learned judges of Peshawar High Court, justice, Mr. IkramUllah, and justice, Mr. Ejaz Anwar. The ruling has rejected the earlier stance taken by the federal government and Pakistan International Airline, citing section 17 and 21 of the of the 5th schedule of the carriage by Air act 2012 and held that, the national carrier could be held liable for provision of further compensation to the families of the victims as per the international obligation, should the report reveals any kind of negligence on the part of national carrier. The court has ordered the national flag carrier to present the report within 45 days.
.
The verdict of the honorable Peshawar High Court in this regard is phenomenal, which has induced a new hope among the families of the victims. The Petitioners owe huge gratitude to the concerned judges of the Peshawar High court for the verdict, and at the same time acknowledge the services of the learned Barrister in ably pursuing the case to fruition. Moreover, the appeal is put forwarded to the federal government and other concerned authorities to implement the court order in letter and
spirit, so that, the complete report will be released within the time frame set by the court order, and make certain that, justice is served to the aggrieved families without any further delay.
