Supreme Court to hear PILs on Ahmedabad Air India crash investigation

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear, at the earliest, a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO alleging serious lapses in the official investigation into the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025.

The petition, filed by the NGO ‘Safety Matters Foundation’, claims that the manner in which the investigation has been conducted violates citizens’ fundamental rights, including the right to life and the right to equality. 

The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.

Last year, on June 12, the crash took place at around 2 pm, when Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick from Ahmedabad, crashed within seconds of take-off. All 260 people on board were killed, including 241 passengers and 19 crew members. The aircraft was being flown by Pilot-in-Command Captain Sumit Sabharwal and Co-Pilot Captain Clive Kunder.

While agreeing to take up the matter, the Supreme Court said hearings in all petitions related to the special investigation report (SIR) would be concluded and an approximate date would be fixed. 

The court noted that on November 13 last year, the High Court observed that the preliminary report of the Air Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) did not hold Captain Sumit Sabharwal responsible for the crash.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the Central Government and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on a separate petition filed by Pushkarraj Sabharwal, the father of the late pilot, seeking a fair and transparent investigation.

Appearing for the NGO, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan told the court that neither the Central Government nor the AAIB had so far filed responses to any of the petitions pending before it. 

He also allegedly pointed out that pilots’ associations have raised concerns about the Boeing 787 aircraft, alleging technical issues and calling for the model to be grounded until a thorough safety review is conducted.