The Supreme Court today rejected a petition seeking “reading down” of the preliminary investigation report prepared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 last year, which claimed 270 lives. The petitioner had prayed for modification of the AAIB report to include a complete sequence of events with a time chart, particularly the exact timing of flameout of the engines and the transition of cut-off switches from “run” to “cut-off” position.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi dismissed the Special Leave Petition at the threshold. Before the petitioner’s counsel could make any effective submissions, the CJI orally remarked that the petition appeared to have a “deep-rooted agenda”. The CJI observed, “What is the deep-rooted agenda (behind this petition)? The people who unfortunately lost their lives, their families are not coming. Those who are directly having something [to do], they are not coming before any forum…No other work, you start filing PIL. As if we don’t understand what is the motive.”

The counsel attempted to clarify that the petition was filed out of concern for public safety, but the bench was not persuaded to entertain the matter. The CJI declined the counsel’s request to direct the AAIB to consider the petitioner’s representation.

The crash involved Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 to London Gatwick, which went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. In its preliminary report, the AAIB stated that fuel supply to both engines was cut off within a gap of one second.

The petitioner, Suresh Chand Shrivastva, an engineer, had earlier approached the Delhi High Court with a similar plea, which was rejected on the ground that the judiciary could not “read down” a report prepared by an expert investigating agency. Assailing that order, he moved the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court disposed of the matter without issuing notice, leaving all issues open and expressing no opinion on the merits of the AAIB report.

Case Title: Suresh Chand Shrivastva v. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)
Case No.: SLP(C) No. 11209/2026