NEW DELHI, Sep 22: The Supreme Court on Monday termed as “unfortunate and irresponsible” the selective publication of a preliminary report on the June 12 Air India crash which outlined lapses on the part of pilots and paved way for a “media narrative”.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, which issued notices to the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the aspect of an independent, fair and expeditious probe of the crash, said an element of privacy and dignity of families of victims was also involved.It took note of certain aspects of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary report issued on July 12 and said “piecemeal and selective” publication of the findings which led to building of a media narrative was “unfortunate and irresponsible”.“There should be complete confidentiality of reports of this nature till the inquiry is complete. There is an element of privacy and dignity of the victims involved. That’s why we should wait for the final report,” the bench observed.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO ‘Safety Matters Foundation’, earlier said one line of the preliminary report which blamed the pilots for the crash led to building of a narrative in the media across the world.
He alleged in the probe panel constituted after the crash, three of the five-members were from the aviation regulator and there could be an issue of conflict of interest.
He said revealing information from the flight data recorder of the airplane would “clear the air” over the cause of the accident.The bench said while the demand for free, fair and independent inquiry was understandable, the demand for information from the flight data recorder was “questionable”.
While cautioning that releasing a particular information might be exploited by rival airlines, the bench suggested such information should not be released prematurely.
Bhushan referred to a podcast, which claimed of having examined all aspects of the incident, and said it concluded that it was not a case of pilot’s negligence.
“Media reporting from one isolated line from the preliminary report has actually distorted the larger picture,” he submitted and added the probe panel could be headed by a judicial person.
When bench felt an independent inquiry by domain experts was a better option, Bhushan said a retired judge could head the panel to oversee the inquiry.The top court said such inquiries should happen promptly to quell rumours and speculations and avoid selective leakage of information to media, social media and other forms of media. (PTI)
