Ajit Pawar plane crash: Family of deceased pilot moves Delhi HC for ₹85.6 lakh insurance money

The family of late Captain Sumit Kamal Kapur, the pilot killed in the Baramati air crash that also claimed the life of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has moved the Delhi High Court seeking release of an insurance claim worth ₹85.6 lakh.

The petition, filed by Kapur's widow Anju Kapur and their children, has sought a direction to New India Assurance Co. Ltd. to release the claim amount under a loss of licence insurance policy that Captain Kapur held through the Federation of Indian Pilots.

The plea came up before Justice Jasmeet Singh on July 21 who issued notice to New India Assurance, IRDAI, Howden Insurance Brokers India Pvt. Ltd., and the Federation of Indian Pilots. (respondents) and granted them time to file their replies.

The matter will be heard next on August 19.

Captain Kapur, a veteran commercial pilot with over 22,000 flying hours and an Airline Transport Pilot Licence dating back to 1985, died in the crash on January 28, 2026 at Baramati in Maharashtra. New India Assurance repudiated the family's insurance claim through a communication dated June 25.

The petitioners then moved the Court by way of the present petition, pointing out that New India Assurance had itself extended the timeline for renewal and fresh enrolments under the policy up to January 31, 2026.

Since the crash occurred on January 28, 2026 within this extended window, it is the petitioners' case that the insurer cannot invoke Section 64VB of the Insurance Act, 1938, which deals with premium payment, to disown liability.

Besides seeking release of the principal claim amount, the petitioners have also sought interest on the sum under clause 14(2)(ii) of the IRDAI (Protection of Policyholders' Interests) Regulations, 2017.

The plea additionally asks the Court to direct the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to conduct a comprehensive inquiry and constitute an expert committee or a special review committee to examine what the petitioners describe as the wrongful and arbitrary denial of insurance claims by New India Assurance.

The petitioners were represented by Advocates Saurav Agarwal, Ritika Jhurani, Dinesh Sharma, Abhishek Kandwal, Raadhika Chawla, Prachi Dubey, Gauri Bansal and Anadi Mishra.

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