It is tragic that a country this size — of 180 million people, with a reasonably large aviation industry and a history that is the oldest in the region — has no aviation lawyers to speak of. This when the industry is no longer limited to just the state-owned airline, but there are other players involved. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an autonomous public sector body operating under the Ministry of Defence, has no legal process, case law returns and no history of litigation.
Part of this of course has to do with the underdeveloped field of tort in Pakistan. It has been 13 months since the Air Blue disaster, but there are no class action lawsuits yet. Had we been a ‘civilised’ country, officials of the CAA and the airline in question would have been hauled to court, and someone would have been made accountable. But not so in Pakistan, where civilised norms are and will remain a distant dream, primarily because our priorities lie elsewhere and the will of God remains an easy scapegoat for our own misdeeds and irresponsible conduct.
Part of this of course has to do with the underdeveloped field of tort in Pakistan. It has been 13 months since the Air Blue disaster, but there are no class action lawsuits yet. Had we been a ‘civilised’ country, officials of the CAA and the airline in question would have been hauled to court, and someone would have been made accountable. But not so in Pakistan, where civilised norms are and will remain a distant dream, primarily because our priorities lie elsewhere and the will of God remains an easy scapegoat for our own misdeeds and irresponsible conduct.
