NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would first await the final report into the Ahmedabad Air India Flight AI171 crash before deciding whether any further inquiry by an independent body or a Court of Inquiry was warranted into the accident that killed 260 people.
The top court deferred the hearing on petitions seeking an independent probe to October 13 after noting that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) had substantially progressed with its investigation.
The Bench was informed by the government that the AAIB's draft final investigation report would be filed before the court in a sealed cover in the first week of October.
The Bench also took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the Federation of Indian Pilots could provide its inputs to the AAIB, which could examine and consider them, if found necessary, during the course of the investigation.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by an NGO, a law student and Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the father of the deceased pilot, seeking an independent, court monitored investigation into the crash. The Bench has now posted the pleas for further hearing on October 13.
During the hearing, the government run probe body clarified before the Bench that the investigation was not an "in house" exercise limited to officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). It also includes experts and officials from countries whose citizens were among those killed in the crash.
Officials told the court that the investigation involves simulations and technical analysis to help reconstruct the sequence of events and determine the cause of the crash.
Recently, the AAIB told the Supreme Court in a counter affidavit that it opposed the batch of pleas seeking directions for an independent judicial probe into the accident that claimed more than 260 lives.
"In all probability... investigation activities... are anticipated to be completed within approximately 6 weeks," the affidavit said, subject to the resolution of pending "external dependencies".
The Bureau argued that the Chicago Convention, ICAO Annex 13, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, and the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025, form a "complete code" for aircraft accident investigations.
"This constitutes a complete code, leaving no lacuna that could justify the creation of a parallel investigative body," the AAIB submitted. It further contended that the statutory and treaty framework vests investigative authority "primarily and exclusively" in the Bureau.
The AAIB also opposed the petitioners' demand for access to cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recordings. It said Rule 17(5) of the 2025 Rules imposes an "absolute prohibition" on the public disclosure of cockpit voice recordings and airborne image recordings.
"Rule 17(5) specifically and separately provides that the audio content of cockpit voice recordings... shall not be disclosed to the public. This is an absolute statutory prohibition," the counter affidavit states.
The Bureau also added that the prayer for disclosure was contrary to the protections under Rules 17(1) and 17(5), read with Schedule C of the 2025 Rules.
The London bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex less than a minute after take off from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. Of the 242 people on board, 241 were killed, along with 19 people on the ground.
Among the petitioners are Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the father of the deceased pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, and the Federation of Indian Pilots. They have sought the constitution of an independent committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to conduct a "fair, transparent and technically robust" investigation.
They have alleged that the AAIB's preliminary report "focused on pilot actions without conclusive evidence" and that a prejudiced inquiry would endanger future passengers.
