‘No Blame on Pilot’: Supreme Court Rebukes Media Over Crash Reports
The Supreme Court on Friday said that no blame could be placed on the pilot of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad in June this year, killing 260 people.
A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made this remark while hearing a petition filed by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, father of Commander Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the deceased pilots. He sought an independent judicial probe into the tragedy, alleging that the current inquiry by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) lacked independence.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued that the investigation should have been judicially monitored under Rule 12 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, which requires impartiality in such inquiries.
The Court issued notice to the Union Government and said the case will be heard along with another related matter on November 10.
“Nobody Can Blame Him”
Justice Surya Kant assured the grieving father that his son was not at fault.
“It’s extremely unfortunate, but you should not bear the burden that your son is being blamed. Nobody can blame him for anything,” the judge said.
Justice Bagchi also clarified that the preliminary AAIB report made no reference to pilot error.
“There’s no suggestion of fault in that report,” he noted.
The petitioner further highlighted global safety concerns surrounding Boeing aircraft, urging the Court to consider the Ahmedabad crash within that larger context.
Justice Bagchi remarked that if the petitioner questioned the investigation’s fairness, it might require challenging the legal framework itself.
“If you challenge the investigation, you have to challenge the statutory provisions of the Act,” he observed.
Supreme Court on ‘Nasty Reporting’ by Foreign Media
The petitioner pointed out a Wall Street Journal article implying pilot error and quoting an unnamed Indian source.
The Bench strongly criticised such reports, stating that Indian courts would not be influenced by foreign media narratives.
“We are not bothered by foreign reports. That is nasty reporting. No one in India believes it was the pilot’s fault,” the Court said.
Background
The petition, filed by the pilot’s father and the Federation of Indian Pilots, seeks an independent panel of aviation experts led by a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the crash. It also calls for the closure of the current AAIB investigation, alleging bias as the probe includes officials from the DGCA and other aviation authorities.
Earlier, in September, the Supreme Court had criticised the selective leak of the AAIB’s preliminary inquiry report, saying that such leaks unfairly shaped public opinion by blaming the pilot before the investigation was complete. The Court stressed that confidentiality must be maintained until the final report is released.
Case Title: Pushkar Raj Sabharwal & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., W.P. (C) No. 1031/2025
