Observing that the Ghatkopar plane crash was a serious issue, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Central Bureau of Investigation and state government, asking them to reply to a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the matter.
A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Anuja Prabhudesaai issued the direction while hearing a plea filed by Advocate Yashwant Shenoy. He argued that "I consider it to be a miracle and a warning from the almighty to the people of Mumbai to get their act together before a catastrophe strikes. This petition seeks a criminal investigation to be conducted by a central agency because though the incident took place in Mumbai, the perpetrators are sitting in Delhi and other parts of the country."
The plea states that the tragedy could have been larger had the aircraft crashed just 50 metre away from the spot. Many more people could have died and this plea is being filed to ensure a larger tragedy doesn't strike Mumbai in the future.
Further, it says that the investigation is so complex that the local police are simply not equipped to investigate the same. Though the accident spot is in Mumbai, its roots are in the DGCA office in Delhi. In his complaint to the police, he has mentioned the involvement of officials of the DGCA, the AAI, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and several builders, and that unless this case is taken over by the CBI, nothing meaningful would ever come out of it.
The plea prays for directions to order a court of inquiry under Rules 5(1 )(d) read with Rule 12 of Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules 2017. The CBI should register an FIR and take over the criminal investigation of the Ghatkopar air crash and the investigation so carried out be monitored by this court.
"Direct the authorities to preserve every part of the wreckage and hand over the same to the CBI for safe custody until all investigations and litigation as regards the accident attain finality," the plea states.
