W.P.(C) 2609/2026 $~80 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 2609/2026 & CM APPL. 12704/2026 SURESH CHAND SHRIVASTVA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Bajinder Singh, Mr. Pradeep Yada, Advocates along with Mr. Suresh Chand Shrivastava (Petitioner in person) versus AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BUREAU (AAIB) .....Respondent Through: Ms. Archana Kumari, GP for UoI. Ms. Anjana Gosain and Ms. Shreya Anjari, Advocates for Ministry of Civil Aviation. CORAM: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIA O R D E R % 25.02.2026 1. Heard the learned Counsel for the Parties. 2. This Petition purportedly instituted as a Public Interest Litigation Petition prays for the following reliefs: “a) Issue an appropriate writ, order, or direction to read down the preliminary report to the extent of exclusion of the complete sequence of events with a time chart and direct the respondents to modify the preliminary report to include the time chart of flameout and switches transition from cut off to run, whether mechanical or manual, with the time chart; and/or b) Issue an appropriate writ, order, or direction directing the Director General, AAIB, to provide in the public domain the exact time of cutting off the fuel supply and whether the cutting off was by mechanical switches or by FADEC, and the exact time of flameout of each engine; and/or c) Issue a direction to the respondents to publish the complete time chart of the sequence of events available with the authorities; and/or This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/03/2026 at 11:54:21 W.P.(C) 2609/2026 d) Pass any such other or further order (s) as this Hon’ble Court may, in the interest of Justice, deem fit and proper in the facts of the present case.” 3. The Petition has been filed in the background of a tragic accident that occurred on 12.06.2025 involving a Boeing 787-8 Aircraft operated by Air India Limited, which was to fly from Ahmedabad to London. The Plane is said to have crashed shortly after taking off and the accident resulted in loss of life of all the persons on board except one. It has been averred in the Petition that the investigation has been initiated by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (“AAIB”), which has released a Preliminary Investigation Enquiry Report (“Preliminary Report”). It is on the basis of the said Preliminary Report that the instant Petition has been filed alleging that the Petitioner is entitled to have complete information about the time of transition of the cut off switches from RUN to CUT-OFF and the exact time of flameout of each engine. For the said purpose, the Petitioner has given certain reasons. 4. The Petition also expresses certain beliefs held by the Petitioner including a belief that it was highly probable that the cause of failure of both the engines was surge, which can be confirmed by the exact time of flameout of each engine and the transitions of each fuel switch to the CUT- OFF position. 5. The Petitioner is a highly qualified Mechanical Engineer having his graduation and post-graduation degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Thermal Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/03/2026 at 11:54:21 W.P.(C) 2609/2026 6. In the Petition, it has been stated by the Petitioner that he contributes by writing articles and organizing group discussions on public welfare issues under the aegis of Society for SCIENCE (Socially Conscious Intellectuals’ Enlightenment and Cephalization). He has also stated that he knows that the airflow in the compressor is with an adverse pressure gradient, whereas in the turbine it is with a favourable pressure gradient and, further, that an adverse pressure gradient means the flow is from low pressure to high pressure. 7. In the background of the aforementioned facts, a prayer has been made in the Petition, as already extracted above, that this Court may read down the Preliminary Report to the extent of exclusion of the complete sequence of events with a time chart and direct the Respondents to modify the Preliminary Report to include the time chart of flameout and switches transition from CUT-OFF to RUN, whether mechanical or manual, with the time chart. 8. We are afraid, such a prayer cannot be granted as it is highly misconceived for two reasons. Firstly, the doctrine of reading down is applied by the superior Courts while interpreting the provisions of some statute and, therefore, asking the Court to read down the Preliminary Report, which has been prepared by the experts, in our considered opinion, is a prayer which is legally impermissible to be granted by the Court. Secondly, it is well settled principle of law that the fields, where the experts operate, should ordinarily be left to the experts for the simple reason that the Courts are not experts in the areas. The Preliminary Report, which has been sought to be read down by the Court in this Petition, has been prepared by the experts and, therefore, even if in the assessment of the Petitioner the said This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/03/2026 at 11:54:21 W.P.(C) 2609/2026 Preliminary Report bears some lacunae, no insistence on behalf of the petitioner can be entertained by the Court by filing the Petition for reading down such a Preliminary Report. 9. The other prayer made in the Petition is that a direction be issued to the Director General, AAIB, to provide in public domain the exact time of cutting off the fuel supply and also the information whether the cutting off was by mechanical switches or by FADEC, and the exact time of flameout of each engine. In the alternative, another prayer made in the Petition is that a direction be issued to Respondents to publish the complete time chart of the sequence of events available with the authorities. Such prayer, in our opinion, cannot be granted by issuing a writ of mandamus. 10. The information as sought by making the prayer contained in clause (b) in this Petition is in relation to the Preliminary Report and for the said purpose, the Petitioner could have approached the authorities concerned by taking an appropriate course under the provision of Right to Information Act, 2005 and if such an information was worthy of being given under the said provision, the same could have been provided to the Petitioner or could have been brought in the public domain. The remedy of a Writ Petition, thus, cannot be permitted to be put to service for such a prayer. 11. For the reasons aforesaid, we are not inclined to entertain this Petition, which is hereby dismissed. The pending Application also stands disposed of. DEVENDRA KUMAR UPADHYAYA, CJ TEJAS KARIA, J FEBRUARY 25, 2026/ap This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/03/2026 at 11:54:21