Mangalore, March 2: More number of families of victims of the air crash came forward for settlement of compensation before Air India counsel H.D. Nanavati.
Mr. Nanavati has been meeting family members of the victims since Wednesday.
"We settled for Rs. 1.2 crore. We are happy with the amount," said a member of the family of a victim of the 2010 air crash from Kasargod, who did not wish to be named. He refused to reveal the name of the victim as well.
He said he approached the Air India counsel directly and did not seek judicial remedy. "They (Air India) have handed over the cheque to me," he said.
This member was among four families of the victims who settled for the compensation during the meetings held during the first half of Thursday.
Mr. Nanavati met victim's family members on Thursday and would be meeting some more families on Friday.
According to Kapil Aseri, Chief Finance Officer of Air India, 109 cases had been settled. Of this 95 cases had been settled on full-and-final basis while six cases were settled as per the judgement of the Division Bench of Kerala High Court. Eight cases had been settled partly.
Among those who had taken part in the negotiation included family members of the air crash victims who had engaged a Swedish law firm. "We carried out negotiations with them only after they produced before us documents showing that they had withdrawn their retainer agreement with the Swedish law firm," said Mr. Nanavati.
Shamsuddin, another resident of Kasargod, on Thursday, accompanied Fathima Safana, wife of his younger cousin Abdul Hakeem, who was among the 158 victims in the crash.
Hakeem worked for a pharmacy store in the UAE and was the lone earning member of the family. Safana agreed for Rs. 87 lakh compensation. "Though we are not happy we have settled for this amount as we do not want to continue with the trauma we go through while attending proceedings every time," Mr. Shamsuddin said.
Disappointment
There was a sense of disappointment among the few families over the compensation.
"They gave us Rs. 20 lakh for the loss of a child and Rs. 30 lakh for the loss of an adult. They have also deducted the amount that was given initially on humanitarian basis," said Abbon Maddadka, who lost his sister and her three daughters.
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