KATHMANDU, JULY 29

The Supreme Court has rejected US-Bangla Airlines’ request to halt the hearing of a case filed by the families of seven deceased passengers who were all pursuing their MBBS in Bangladesh. After the hearing of both sides on Sunday, the apex court stated that no such interim order could be issued in the ongoing case.

A division bench of Chief Judge Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha and Judge Purushottam Bhandari issued the decision, observing that halting the hearing of such a sensitive case, which was under consideration at the district court, would be unjustifiable.

Moreover, such a decision might affect the families of victims, forcing the apex court to reject the company’s demand to halt the case, said Bidur Man Shrestha, father of one of the deceased students.

According to him, they received the SC order today and came to know that the apex court had called for another hearing on August 25.

The 12 March 2018 flight from Dhaka crash-landed at Kathmandu airport and skidded off the runway before bursting into flames, killing 51 people in the deadliest aviation accident in the country in decades. Twenty-eight of the deceased were from Bangladesh, 22 from Nepal and one from China.

Families of seven Nepali passengers had filed a writ at the SC seeking insurance claim. However, the airline company, insurance company Sena Kalyan Insurance Ltd Bangladesh and reinsurer Sadharan Beema Corporation had asked the apex court to halt the case, arguing that victims cannot file a case in Nepal.

However, Kathmandu District Court issued an order on December 5, stating that victims’ families can process for compensation from Nepal.

On 11 March 2019, Patan High Court had ruled that Kathmandu District Court had the jurisdiction to adjudicate the compensation case filed by families of victims of US-Bangla Air crash.

Victims’ families have demanded Rs 2.10 billion compensation based on Montreal Convention-1999 and Warsaw Convention-1929, according to plaintiffs’ advocate Amrit Kharel.

Families of late Ashna Shakya, Anjila Shrestha, Meeli Maharjan, Neega Maharjan, Princy Dhami, Sanjaya Maharjan and Shreya Jha had filed a joint lawsuit against the company.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 30, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

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