LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Tuesday issued notices to the federal government and its authorities on a petition seeking a stay against inquiry by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) into a recent plane crash in Karachi and establishment of a judicial commission.

A panel of lawyers had filed the petition, saying that during the past 50 years, several commercial planes had crashed and the authorities had not been able to take any serious action to mitigate causes for increase in crashes.

The petition argued that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the CAA and airlines had not been fully observed; rather they were violated by the authorities themselves.

It alleged that the investigation being carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of the CAA was likely to cover the shortcomings of the officials concerned. Therefore, the petition asked the court to order an inquiry into the crash by an impartial judicial commission.

The chief justice sought replies from the respondents by July 28. The lawyers, including Arslan Raza Naqvi, Barrister Anam Shakeel, Arhum Tariq Butt and Mufti Ehteshamuddin Haider, had jointly filed the petition.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2020