ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court has ordered private airline Airblue to pay Rs5.41 billion in compensation to the victims of its 2010 plane crash, rejecting all appeals filed by the carrier and imposing additional fines for wasting judicial time.
The verdict was issued by the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad, which dismissed eight appeals submitted by Airblue and imposed a fine of Rs1 million on each appeal, amounting to a total penalty of Rs8 million.
The court ruled that the compensation must be paid to the families and individuals affected by the July 2010 crash near Islamabad, in which dozens of passengers lost their lives.
Under the ruling, compensation will be paid as follows: Rs143.189 million to Sumera Naveed Choudhry and two others; Rs630.94 million to Rashid Zulfiqar and four others; Rs1.101 billion to Muhammad Ilyas; Rs507.348 million to Gohar Rehman; Rs996.048 million to Junaiduz Zaman Hamid; Rs857.025 million to Muhammad Javed Khan; Rs572.666 million to Mst Salima Rajput; and Rs606 million to retired Colonel Shamim Akhtar.
The decision arose from a civil claim filed against Airblue over its role in the crash. Families of the victims had challenged an earlier ruling by a civil judge that awarded partial compensation of up to Rs10 million per person.
In its judgment, the court criticised Airblue for repeatedly filing appeals, observing that the airline had unnecessarily consumed court time by contesting compensation meant for the victims’ families. The court noted that Airblue’s arguments against the compensation amounts failed to justify interference with the claims.
Appeals filed by the victims seeking further relief remain pending before the Islamabad High Court. The high court had earlier transferred jurisdiction of the case back to the District and Sessions Court for a final determination.
