Bombay High Court disposes of PIL filed against airport authority

The court said that the PIL was filed in 2014 and the rules were framed only in 2015.

| Mumbai | Published: April 6, 2018 5:16:17 am

The Bombay High Court Thursday disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by a lawyer, alleging that the Airport Authority India (AAI) granted permission for construction of buildings around the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) and Juhu Airport.

A division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice P D Naik, disposed off the PIL, stating that they have no opinions in the light of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Height Restrictions for Safeguarding of Aircraft Operations) Rules, 2015. The gazette specifies the rules for calculation of permissible height for buildings and other structures within radius of 20 kilometers around all civil airports.

The petition was filed by advocate Yeshwanth Shenoy, alleging lapses and callousness on the part of AAI, while granting permission for building construction around the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) and Juhu Airport. He said the efforts, during a catastrophe, will prove to be a futile exercise for firefighters as aviation fuel is highly combustible given the narrow lanes of slums around CSIA. “Any hit on a tall building can cause catastrophe resulting in deaths of hundreds of thousands,” the PIL stated.

The court said that the PIL was filed in 2014 and the rules were framed only in 2015. The bench said, “However, the existence of these rules was not brought to this court’s notice until recently.” The court also said that the petitioner can file a fresh PIL if he finds any violations in the 2015 rules.

There are several separate petitions filed by private developers, seeking directions from the court to the appellate committee in the Civil Aviation Ministry to approve the aeronautical study reports done by AAI for their building and AAI to issue NOC for constructions up to those height. The court is likely to pass separate orders on Friday.