New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the respondents over a petition seeking compensation in connection with a flight crash that took place at Kozhikode International Airport in 2020. The petition was filed by the families of the victims demanding compensation of at least Rs 1.34 crore, as prescribed by the Montreal Convention (1999). The notice was served to the respondents, including Air India and the Centre, by a bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar. 

The petitioners had approached the apex court after the Kerala High Court dismissed their plea over the same matter. Following this, the top court decided to consider the petition along with another concerning the Mangalapuram flight tragedy in 2010. According to the complainants, Air India Express had provided only nominal compensation through agencies appointed for negotiation.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal pointed out that 168 people lost their lives in the tragedy and an agreement was made with Air India to provide compensation ranging from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 35 lakh to the affected families. He further raised the demand to provide Rs 1.34 crore as compensation. Meanwhile, Air India maintained that the complainants could not demand further compensation as they had already agreed with the company.