MiG-21 crash victim's mother appreciates NHRC's role in vindicating her honour

The Commission had received a complaint dated 15 December 2004 from Smt. Kavita Gadgil, a resident of Mumbai, Maharashtra stating that her son Flt. Lt. Abhijit Gadgil had died on 17 September 2001 in an Air crash involving a MiG-21 at Suratgarh in Rajasthan. She alleged that while the Air crash occurred due to a technical failure, the Indian Air Force was trying to hide the truth and blame her son, who was the pilot. She felt it was a clear violation of the right to human dignity and denial of right to natural justice. She also said that she was aggrieved by the misleading, confusing, hurtful response and remarks about the performance of her son referred to in a letter dated 12 March 2003 of the Inspector General, Air Force Headquarters. She appealed to the Commission for relief in the form of an apology from the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force for the trauma. She also asked for withdrawal of the offending letter of the Inspector General as well as the remarks made against her son be expunged.
Based on her complaint, the Commission pursued the matter with Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Recently, Smt. Kavita Gadgil sent a letter dated 07 July 2005 to the Commission stating that she had received a letter from Air Chief Marshal S. P. Tyagi apologising for the hurt caused by the earlier letter of the IG dated 12 March 2004. The Air Chief Marshal had intimated Smt. Kavita Gadgil that the said letter stands withdrawn and would be expunged from the official record. Smt. Kavita Gadgil has expressed her gratitude to the NHRC for pursuing the case and vindicating her honour. The NHRC has closed her case since appropriate action has now been taken to the satisfaction of Smt. Kavita Gadgil.