The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has stayed an order of Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directing the Indian Airlines to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to each of the 160 passengers who were on board on the IC-814 flight which was hijacked and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999.

A bench headed by Justice R K Batta also issued notices to the two passengers Ashok Gupta and his wife on whose petition the impugned order was passed by the state commission in December last year.

Justice J D Kapoor, who headed the bench of state commission, had also ordered the Indian Airlines to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Rupen Katyal who was killed by the terrorists on Kathmandu-Delhi flight.

Mr Shivkumar Suri appearing for the petitioner airlines submitted before the National Commission that the state commission had committed a grave error by awarding a compensation even to those who had not approached it and were not a party to the petition filed by Mr Gupta and his wife.

Mr Suri also contended that the petitioner was not in any way responsible for the incident and no injury was caused to any of the passengers who were on board.

Justice Kapoor had also directed the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation to instruct all airlines to carry out thorough security check of their passengers before they board aircraft.

The state commission had also observed, ‘Greater sufferings result from psychological causes than bodily harm and such sufferings endanger life, limbs and health including mind, brain, heart and other organs.’

Their suffering can not be described in words. A fear always engulfs them as to when a bullet would hit them. They were made to sit with their heads down. Two of the passengers had been killed and so they were waiting for some miracles to happen to save them.’ The national commission admitted the revision petition filed by the Indian Airlines.

The Government of India was forced to release Masood Azhar in exchange for safety of the passengers of the hijacked plane and then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had to accompany the dreaded terrorist to Kandahar to meet the demands of terrorists.

UNI