The Supreme Court, today, while hearing the Public Interest Litigation seeking fair, transparent, and court-monitored Investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash, orally remarked why Advocates file such matters unnecessarily.

A Public Interest Litigation was filed by Akhilesh Kumar Mishra, a Research Scholar at University of Delhi & also a practising advocate, seeking constitution of an independent, impartial, and court-monitored inquiry committee headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court, comprising aviation experts, forensic engineers, and legal professionals, including international experts if necessary, to conduct a transparent, time-bound investigation into the crash of Air India Flight 171.

Earlier, the Supreme Court, while hearing a similar matter filed by Safety Matters Foundation seeking the release of the information from the flight data recorder of the aircraft, remarked that confidentiality is very important in such matters and that the final conclusion of the enquiry must be brought into the public domain.

The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice in the matter and tagged it with the connected matter.

Advocate appearing for the Petitioner informed the Bench that the Court issued notice in a similar matter and the same will be heard on November 10, 2025.

While suggesting that the matter can be tagged with the similar matter pending before the Apex Court, Justice Kant remarked, "Why Advocates should file unnecessarily?...every possible subject they will come in a PIL."

To which the Advocate clarified that the Petitioner is actually affected.

Accordingly, the Court issued notice and tagged it with the Safety Matters Foundation V. Union of India, which is already pending before the Supreme Court.

Background

A PIL was filed in public interest, seeking the intervention of the Supreme Court to ensure a fair, transparent, and court-monitored investigation into the catastrophic crash of Air India Flight 171 on 12 June 2025 in Ahmedabad, which resulted in the death of 260 individuals, including passengers, crew, and civilians on the ground and a number of people had also got injured.

The PIL highlighted that a preliminary report published by Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) impliedly attributes the crash to an abrupt shutdown of both engines caused by the transition of fuel control switches from RUN to CUTOFF within a one-second interval. However, significant inconsistencies and contradictions have emerged from the investigation.

The PIL stated, "Both pilots were highly experienced, with a combined 19,000 flying hours, including over 9,000 hours on Boeing 787 aircraft. Experts including David Learmount and Tim Atkinson have publicly stated that the fuel cut-off switches require deliberate action and cannot be flipped by mistake, ruling out pilot error"

The PIL also contended that despite these alarming indications of possible design malfunction, software fault, or systemic failure within the aircraft, Boeing has not been issued any directives or held accountable at any level in the preliminary report.

The Petition also underscored that the preliminary investigation report dated 12.07.2025 appeared to be compromised as the content of the same was released by the Wall street Journal 20 hours before it was released by the AAIB, as a result of which the same loses its confidential and credible character.

Cause Title: Akhilesh Kumar Mishra V. Union of India & Ors. (W.P.(C) No. 738/2025 PIL-W)

Justice Surya KantJustice Joyma

Pridhi Chopra

    Pridhi Chopra was earlier practicing as an Advocate in Delhi. She pursued B.A. (H) English from Gargi College, University of Delhi, and subsequently pursued a degree in Law.