The family members of Nepali passengers killed in the US-Bangla aircraft crash in March last year blamed the Nepal representative of the airline company for trying to influence the court hearing.
Organising a press meet in Kathmandu today, they claimed that the Nepal representative of the airline company has refused to provide compensation amount they are seeking and resorted to intimidating them to sort the issue out of court.
On November 1, senior advocate Devendra Pradhan – from Pradhan & Associates – who is representing the airline company, sent a letter to the victims’ legal adviser putting pressure to withdraw the case and settle the matter through personal discussion, informed legal adviser of the family members of the victims Amrit Kharel.
The Nepali law firm hired by the Bangladeshi carrier has been pressurising the families of victims to withdraw our lawsuit, Kharel said, adding that it is against their fundamental right to a 'fair trial' and the 'independent judiciary’ system.
A scheduled US-Bangla Airlines flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu – on March 12, 2018 – crashed while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and 51 passengers including 22 Nepalis were killed. There were 71 people, including four crew members, aboard the 76-seater Bombardier of the US-Bangla Airlines. The families of seven of the deceased passengers – including MBBS students Ashna Shakya, Anjila Shrestha, Meeli Maharjan, Neega Maharjan, Princy Dhami, Sanjaya Maharjan and Shreya Jha – filed the suit in Kathmandu District Court on July 31 for unlimited compensation citing wrongful death, nearly a-year-and-a-half after the disaster.
“The hearing was set for November 6,” the plaintiffs' lawyer Kharel said, adding that the victims’ family postponed it after the law firm – Pradhan & Associates – emailed me stating that ‘the report prepared by Nepal’s Accident Investigation Commission was not admissible as evidence as per various Nepali statutes’.
The commission released its report in January 2019, concluding that the captain of Flight BS 211 was 'stressed and emotionally disturbed'. Evidence confirmed that the captain was mentally unstable and unfit to fly.
The families of the seven medical students who died in the crash have sued the airline for $19.09 million, Kharel said, adding that the lawsuit was filed based on the report of the government's Accident Investigation Commission. “But a copy of the email dated November 1 reads that Pradhan & Associates already knew that the court proceeding slated for November 6 will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
Though out of the court settlement is a usual practice but putting pressure on victims’ families is illegal.
According to the father of one of the victims Anjila Shrestha, Bidhur Man Shrestha, they had knocked on the court’s door after the airline refused to pay reasonable compensation. “The law firm had offered $50,000 per person,” he said, adding that they have been frequently pressurising to take the compensation amount that they have fixed.
The families of the victims have already been given $20,000 as an advance payment.
“Advocate Pradhan also claimed that six out of the seven cases would be dismissed by the court during the hearing that was scheduled for November 6,” Shrestha said, adding that the families of the victims have the right to file a lawsuit, and it’s their fundamental right.
However, the email – sent by Pradhan & Associates to the plaintiff’s lawyer Kharel and distributed at the press meet – reads that the plaintiffs have relied on claims of 'gross negligence' and 'willful misconduct' under Article 25 of the Warsaw Convention 1929, which is not applicable to these lawsuits. “We prepared to raise these issues very strongly apart from other issues before the court to seek dismissal of these lawsuits,” the email reads, adding, “It is our belief that plaintiffs can still avoid the unfavourable situation.”
US-Bangla wishes to extend plaintiffs a full and final settlement out of the court on the terms offered to them previously in order to avoid lengthy litigation which definitely will take several years, it adds.
The email ends with somewhat threaten, “Please judge your action accordingly. We are more than happy to discuss this matter further.”
The families of the 15 other Nepali victims and a Bangladeshi victim have also been seeking legal remedy to get their rightful compensation separately by hiring another law firm in Kathmandu.
US-Bangla Airlines took insurance coverage of $107 million through two local insurance companies – Sena Kalyan Insurance Company and Sadharan Bima Corporation – consisting of $7 million for the aircraft and $100 million for passenger liabilities.
However, after receiving the e-mail from Pradhan, the victims’ families had postponed the hearing citing that one of their advocates was unable to attend the hearing.
Families of the seven victims, who were all pursuing MBBS in Bangladesh, had filed a joint lawsuit on July 31 demanding total compensation of Rs 2.10 billion after the Bangladeshi airline company failed to release the applicable compensation amount. After that the airline company had offered $50,000 to each victim family. However, the families have refused to settle, seeking compensation that includes study expenses and expected income of the deceased students.
Organising a press meet in Kathmandu today, they claimed that the Nepal representative of the airline company has refused to provide compensation amount they are seeking and resorted to intimidating them to sort the issue out of court.
On November 1, senior advocate Devendra Pradhan – from Pradhan & Associates – who is representing the airline company, sent a letter to the victims’ legal adviser putting pressure to withdraw the case and settle the matter through personal discussion, informed legal adviser of the family members of the victims Amrit Kharel.
The Nepali law firm hired by the Bangladeshi carrier has been pressurising the families of victims to withdraw our lawsuit, Kharel said, adding that it is against their fundamental right to a 'fair trial' and the 'independent judiciary’ system.
A scheduled US-Bangla Airlines flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu – on March 12, 2018 – crashed while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and 51 passengers including 22 Nepalis were killed. There were 71 people, including four crew members, aboard the 76-seater Bombardier of the US-Bangla Airlines. The families of seven of the deceased passengers – including MBBS students Ashna Shakya, Anjila Shrestha, Meeli Maharjan, Neega Maharjan, Princy Dhami, Sanjaya Maharjan and Shreya Jha – filed the suit in Kathmandu District Court on July 31 for unlimited compensation citing wrongful death, nearly a-year-and-a-half after the disaster.
“The hearing was set for November 6,” the plaintiffs' lawyer Kharel said, adding that the victims’ family postponed it after the law firm – Pradhan & Associates – emailed me stating that ‘the report prepared by Nepal’s Accident Investigation Commission was not admissible as evidence as per various Nepali statutes’.
The commission released its report in January 2019, concluding that the captain of Flight BS 211 was 'stressed and emotionally disturbed'. Evidence confirmed that the captain was mentally unstable and unfit to fly.
The families of the seven medical students who died in the crash have sued the airline for $19.09 million, Kharel said, adding that the lawsuit was filed based on the report of the government's Accident Investigation Commission. “But a copy of the email dated November 1 reads that Pradhan & Associates already knew that the court proceeding slated for November 6 will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
Though out of the court settlement is a usual practice but putting pressure on victims’ families is illegal.
According to the father of one of the victims Anjila Shrestha, Bidhur Man Shrestha, they had knocked on the court’s door after the airline refused to pay reasonable compensation. “The law firm had offered $50,000 per person,” he said, adding that they have been frequently pressurising to take the compensation amount that they have fixed.
The families of the victims have already been given $20,000 as an advance payment.
“Advocate Pradhan also claimed that six out of the seven cases would be dismissed by the court during the hearing that was scheduled for November 6,” Shrestha said, adding that the families of the victims have the right to file a lawsuit, and it’s their fundamental right.
However, the email – sent by Pradhan & Associates to the plaintiff’s lawyer Kharel and distributed at the press meet – reads that the plaintiffs have relied on claims of 'gross negligence' and 'willful misconduct' under Article 25 of the Warsaw Convention 1929, which is not applicable to these lawsuits. “We prepared to raise these issues very strongly apart from other issues before the court to seek dismissal of these lawsuits,” the email reads, adding, “It is our belief that plaintiffs can still avoid the unfavourable situation.”
US-Bangla wishes to extend plaintiffs a full and final settlement out of the court on the terms offered to them previously in order to avoid lengthy litigation which definitely will take several years, it adds.
The email ends with somewhat threaten, “Please judge your action accordingly. We are more than happy to discuss this matter further.”
The families of the 15 other Nepali victims and a Bangladeshi victim have also been seeking legal remedy to get their rightful compensation separately by hiring another law firm in Kathmandu.
US-Bangla Airlines took insurance coverage of $107 million through two local insurance companies – Sena Kalyan Insurance Company and Sadharan Bima Corporation – consisting of $7 million for the aircraft and $100 million for passenger liabilities.
However, after receiving the e-mail from Pradhan, the victims’ families had postponed the hearing citing that one of their advocates was unable to attend the hearing.
Families of the seven victims, who were all pursuing MBBS in Bangladesh, had filed a joint lawsuit on July 31 demanding total compensation of Rs 2.10 billion after the Bangladeshi airline company failed to release the applicable compensation amount. After that the airline company had offered $50,000 to each victim family. However, the families have refused to settle, seeking compensation that includes study expenses and expected income of the deceased students.
