Mangalore, Marc 14: The Air Crash Victims' Families Association, set up to fight the cause of the victims of IX812 crash near here on May 22 last year, on Sunday engaged the services of Swedish law firm Advokaterna Liman & Partners, a mid-size independent firm, for settlement of compensation claims.
After talks on modalities of fee and other issues with the firm's representative Stephan Eriksson, the association decided on the firm's intervention, association president Mohammed Beary told TOI on Sunday.
The firm will charge 30% fee above a certain compensation limit, that is, if the victim had a salary of Rs 50,000, the legal firm will not charge any fee for a compensation amount up to Rs 1 crore.
The firm processed many documents on Sunday and the representative will also receive documents in the third week of March as many did not have proper documents with them. Beary expected the firm to handle at least 75 cases. The firm's representative will also visit Dubai soon to collect documents from families residing there.
The engagement of the Swedish law firm follows alleged failure of Air India-appointed legal counsel Mulla and Mulla failing to arrive at satisfactory settlement. The association demanded the compensation amount to be based on "worth of life of each individual and not merely on his or her income''.
Pradeep G Kotian, one of the survivors, said he was offered a total package of Rs 3.70 lakh, which includes Rs 2 lakh offered as interim compensation and Rs 70,000 for baggage loss. "I was earning dirham 2,900 gross. I still cannot lift heavy things with my right arm as my wrist is still weak. Doctors have advised exercise and till date there's not much of improvement, said Kotian. He wants a job which provided the same lifestyle as his earlier job in Dubai and compensation for the loss of income after the crash.
Another member Abdul Razak said as of now 70 families had been called by Mulla and Mulla and according to their information about 50 cases have been settled.
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