Religious scholar Tahirul Qadri announces he will sue Emirates Airlines for diverting flight Ek-612 from Islamabad to Lahore Airport

By Agha Iqrar Haroon

Lahore: Pakistani-Canadian religious scholar and Chief of Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) Dr. Tahirul Qadri has said that he will sue Emirates Airlines for diverting flight Ek-612 from Islamabad to Lahore Airport.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday Tahirul Qadri said that he will sue Emirates Airlines for diverting its flight Ek-612 to Lahore that was scheduled to be landed at Islamabad Airport on Monday 23 June but was diverted to Lahore airport.

He was asked by a reporter to comment over the news items that Emirates airline plans to file a suit over the damages caused to its reputation by the enforced diversion of its plane carrying Dr Tahirul Qadri on Monday.

It may be mentioned that plane was scheduled to reach Islamabad at 8am on Monday and return to Dubai at 9.30am after picking passengers but the government did not allow the aircraft to land at Islamabad for security risks.

Moreover Dr. Tahirul Qadri refused to disembark from flight for around six hours and he was insisting that he would leave plane when he would be given security by the Pakistan Army. However he left the plane when Governor Punjab Ch. Sarwar came inside the plane and Dr. Qadri accepted to disembark from plane with him.

Meanwhile Emirates had an option to take action against Dr. Qadri under international rules but it refrained from taking any action against religious leader.

Refuse to leave the aircraft after landing implicates action against person/persons refusing to leave the aircraft under rule 5.2 of International Civil Aviation rules. Uncooperative passenger (examples include interfering with the crew’s duties, refusing to follow instructions to board or leave the aircraft);

5.2 offers Police Involvement as  

The laws of a Sovereign State, in which police have jurisdiction, define the degree of action that law
enforcement agencies are empowered to take. Those powers sometimes do not extend to actions
committed on board a foreign registered aircraft. States should be encouraged to enact additional
legislation empowering the law enforcement agency to respond to an allegation of disruptive or unruly
passengers on foreign registered aircraft landing on their territory.

Specific details may assist the police in researching the offender’s antecedents. Where practicable, the
following information should be relayed to the police before landing through air traffic control service