Lawsuit filed in Nepal Court after US-Bangla plane crash victims denied compensation

Families of seven people, who lost their lives in the US-Bangla plane crash last year, filed a lawsuit in Nepal court after the air carrier denied compensation to them as per Montreal Convention 1999 and other globally accepted aviation accords.

In the lawsuit filed in Kathmandu District Court, the families of the deceased, identified as Ashna Shakya, Anjila Shrestha, Meeli Maharjan, Neega Maharjan, Princy Dhami, Sanjaya Maharjan and Shreya Jha, have demanded compensation amounting to USD19 million.

"Altogether USD 19 million has been claimed by the victim of seven families," plaintiff's lawyer Amrit Kharel told ANI in an interview.

"We have three major grounds for this case. The Montreal Convention 1999, Warsaw Convention and Hague Protocol 955, these are the international conventions which provide for all the legal framework of air carriers liability that arises after the international accidents," he said.

"We have filed this complainant based on Article 17 of Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, Article 25 of the Warsaw Convention, and, Article 21 and Paragraph 2 of the Montreal Convention," Kharel added.

The Montreal Convention which is regarded as the recharger of all the previously made conventions has provisions clarifying the liability of air carrier.

Referring to Article 17 of the Montreal Convention, plaintiff's lawyer claimed that it is the sole responsibility of the carrier for the death or injury of a passenger in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

Under the Montreal Convention, passengers of international flights get an insurance cover worth up to 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), in case of death or injury.

But the victims' families who were in contact with the air service provider claimed that they were asked to settle the issue in a very low amount.

"They told us that we would only get USD 20,000 as per the Warsaw Convention. But the company also promised to give us USD 50,000 showing sympathy and settle the issue," Indraman Shrestha, who lost his daughter in the fatal air crash, told ANI.

At least 51 people were killed when the aircraft crashed at Nepal's Tribhuwan International Airport in March last year.

The incident was later investigated through a committee formed by Nepal Government that further pointed out to human error as the reason behind the aviation crash.

Complainants in the lawsuit have also requested the Court to allow them to present members of the then investigation committee as witnesses during the hearing.

Discussion over the lawsuit is expected to start within a few weeks.

The family and kin of the deceased also are confident of winning the case and have vowed to fight till the last for justice.