The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to fast-track a 1988 Ahmedabad air crash compensation case. The dispute involves 133 deaths and has lasted nearly four decades. Air India sought an urgent hearing to decide if road accident laws apply to aviation claims. "List before the bench," the CJI said today.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to fast-track a nearly four-decade-old compensation dispute arising from the 1988 Ahmedabad air crash that killed 133 people, after Air India sought an urgent hearing in a case that could potentially reshape how compensation is calculated in air-crash claims.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant agreed to list the matter before Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria, who had earlier heard the long-running dispute.
"List before the bench presided by Justice Aravind Kumar," the CJI said.
Mint reported earlier on Monday that Air India had sought an early hearing of the case, which was last heard in December 2025 but was not taken up thereafter. The airline subsequently moved an application seeking an early hearing.
At the heart of the dispute is a question that has remained unresolved for decades: should compensation for victims of an air crash be calculated using principles developed by the Supreme Court for road accidents under the Motor Vehicles Act, or should aviation accidents be governed by a separate framework?
Written submissions filed by victims' families and reviewed by Mint argue that Motor Vehicles Act principles should not automatically apply to air crashes. The claimants contend that passengers have little or no control over the operation, maintenance or safety of an aircraft and generally have no knowledge of its technical functioning.
They argue that compensation should instead be determined under ordinary principles of tort law, with victims receiving full or just compensation. The submissions also seek consideration of factors such as actual income, future earning capacity and changes in earnings over time, rather than relying solely on standardised formulas developed for road accidents.
The Supreme Court's decision to hear the matter comes against the backdrop of last year's Air India crash that killed 260 people, with several pleas concerning air safety and the crash investigation pending before the court.
An email seeking Air India's response on today's court proceedings remained unanswered at press time.
Families of the deceased and survivors filed 38 civil suits between 1989 and 1992 seeking compensation. The Ahmedabad City Civil Court decided the claims in 2002. The litigation then moved to the Gujarat High Court, which decided the appeals in 2009 and revised several awards.
The dispute reached the Supreme Court in 2010. In April that year, the court recorded that the compensation determined against Indian Airlines had been deposited with the Ahmedabad City Civil Court, along with interest, while the Airports Authority of India had deposited 30% of the compensation. The court directed disbursement to claimants subject to them furnishing security other than a bank guarantee. The litigation, however, continued.