The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted three weeks to the Centre to place before it the fact-finding report, including the "procedural protocol" followed so far, on the crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad on June 12 last year that killed 260 people.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi recorded an assurance to this effect from solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board's inquiry into the crash was at the “fag end” and was likely to be concluded in three weeks.

Mehta sought an adjournment of the PIL filed by NGO Safety Matters Foundation seeking an independent probe into the crash on the ground that the blame was being cast on the deceased pilots.

“We are at the fag end of the investigation. Some parts of the aircraft have to be flown to some foreign countries for tests. We have to study the procedure adopted in other foreign countries,” Mehta told the court.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, highlighted concerns over the overall safety of Boeing 787s. He said three other Boeing 787s had met with similar incidents and the Centre had not filed any response to the pleas. However, CJI Kant cautioned against giving much credence to unverified media reports to tarnish the image of any aircraft.

"Last week, it was said that the Dreamliner from London to Delhi had some problem with the fuel switch. Later, it was said from the official account of the airline that it was perfectly fine," the CJI said.

“Let us be very conservative and not make comments on any particular aircraft. Earlier, the Dreamliners were considered one of the best aircraft...,” he observed.

The bench said it sympathised with the victims of the Ahmedabad crash, including the families of the pilots who lost their lives. “….It is not a small tragedy for any nation,” the bench remarked while adjourning the hearing for three weeks.

Air India's flight AI171, en route to London's Gatwick airport, had crashed shortly after taking off from Gujarat's Ahmedabad, killing 240 on board and 20 others on the ground. Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was also among the victims. Viswash Kumar Ramesh was the sole surviving passenger and managed to walk to safety after crawling out of the burning wreckage.

On January 28, the top court agreed to hear the pleas that alleged that the official probe into the crash had violated the citizens' fundamental rights to life, equality and access to truthful information.

On November 7 last year, the bench told 91-year-old Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, father of deceased pilot Sumeet Sabharwal, not to carry the burden or blame for the crash and issued notices to the Centre and the DGCA on his separate petition for an independent court-monitored probe.