India's Bombay high court has dismissed a claim against Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands by the owner of a ship that sank in 1989.
The suit had claimed that as the vessel had been repaired by a Dutch company prior to its capsize, the ex-monarch was liable for damages as the repairer was her "subject," the Deccan Chronicle reported.
However, the court rejected the action on the grounds that the former monarch could not be held responsible.
The suit was filed by Khurshed Soli Dhondy, owner of SK Dhondy and Co.
Dhondy's father had launched the original legal action in 1994, claiming damages from the Dutch royal, after a ship owned by him, the SKD-1, had sunk in the port of Mangalore on 28 November, 1989.
The monarch had filed an application to dismiss the case in 2004, claiming an abuse of process and that it was an attempt "to implicate a sovereign on frivolous grounds".
The claim had first been rejected in 2011 by Justice RY Ganoo, who held that the queen enjoyed diplomatic immunity and Dhondy had not been able to prove that the yard was a subject.
Beatrix reigned as queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication on 30 April 2013.
