Mar 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Peter Small
Courts Bureau

The Pakistani widow and family of Toronto taxi driver Tahir Khan have launched a $2 million lawsuit against the two young men who killed him while speeding up Mount Pleasant Rd. in their parents' Mercedes-Benz cars.

The lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court, claims "extreme grief" and also says that Alexander Ryazanov and ****-Piao Dumani Ross were racing two years ago when they killed the 46-year-old Pakistani immigrant, something their criminal lawyers have denied.

"It's a modern-day Greek tragedy," said Shahzad Siddiqui. He and Russ Howe are legal counsel for the family. "They killed this taxi driver days away from his citizenship ceremony and it's left his wife and his impoverished family."

Last May, Ryazanov and Ross were sentenced to a year's house arrest, followed by a year with a curfew and two years' probation. The 20-year-olds had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, although the Crown is appealing their sentences.

It was never determined in the young men's criminal proceedings whether they were racing. In a civil trial, the standard for proving would be easier to meet, because it is based on "a balance of probabilities" rather than the tougher standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" used in criminal trials, Howe confirmed.

Whether or not they were racing is going to be a "huge issue" in the civil suit, Howe added.

Najma Batool, Khan's widow, his mother, Sajjad Fatima, sister Nasira Batool, and brother Shahid Abbas Khan, who live in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, are claiming $2 million in damages.

"The collision has caused extreme grief, emotional upset, pain and suffering," the lawsuit says.

Khan was the family's financial mainstay, paying for medicine for his mother and schooling for his siblings' children, said Mohammad Alam, who is the family's litigation guardian.

Alam, who visited the family six months after the collision, said they were "in pretty bad shape emotionally . . . crying and crying."

Khan's wife and mother particularly wanted to know if he had suffered before he died, Alam said. Khan had planned to sponsor them once he became a citizen, he said.

The family are claiming punitive damages because the young men's conduct was so far from the community norm that it deserves more punishment than the criminal courts have dealt, Howe said.

Khan's family are also suing the drivers' parents – Anthony Ross and Jo-Anne ****, and Sergey and Larissa Ryazanov – alleging they failed to properly maintain their cars and allowed their sons to drive despite failing to properly instruct them how to operate the luxury vehicles.

The claims have not been proven in court.

Justin Linden, lawyer for the Ryazanov family, said it would not be appropriate to comment now. Lawyer Brian Greenspan, who represents Ross in the Crown's sentencing appeal, said the family is in no position to comment.

On the night of Jan. 24, 2006, both drivers sped north on Mount Pleasant Rd. in their parents' Mercedes-Benz cars, hitting speeds estimated between 80 and 140 km/h.

At about 10:20 p.m., Ryazanov's 1999 silver Mercedes T-boned Khan's Diamond taxi as the cab driver was making a left turn onto Whitehall Rd.

Khan's family are also suing the drivers' parents – Anthony Ross and Jo-Anne ****, and Sergey and Larissa Ryazanov – alleging they failed to properly maintain their cars and allowed their sons to drive despite failing to properly instruct them how to operate the luxury vehicles.