The court found that a standard life sentence, which could allow for remission after 14 years, would be grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the crime

To the naked eye, everything seemed fine when the Air India Boeing 787-8 accelerated during its take-off roll in Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. The next few seconds, however, indicated the plane could be in trouble as it did not gain altitude.

Fourteen-year-old Akash Patni was sleeping under a tree near his family’s tea stall close to the BJ Medical College hostel building in Meghaninagar area when a cruel twist of fate pulled him in as a statistic in one of aviation’s worst disasters.