SC says no to early hearing

SC says no to early hearing
New Delhi, DHNS & Agencies:
The Supreme Court on Friday refused early hearing of a public interest litigation filed by an NGO alleging that the Centre's decision to close down the existing airport in Bangalore for commercial flights was unilateral and arbitrary.


Fixing May 5 for hearing the PIL, a bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran said: “There is no urgency in the matter and it would be heard on the date fixed.”

The NGO, Bangalore City Connect Foundation, had sought a direction to the Centre and the Karnataka government to keep both the existing Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Airport and the new airport at Devanahalli operational for comme-rcial flights to avoid inconvenience to public.

Connectivity between Bangalore and Devana-halli, 40 km away from the City, was bad, and it would take hours for passengers to travel to the new airport, it argued.

Prejudice

The NGO said that a grave prejudice would be caused to residents of Bangalore who would be constrained to commute on congested roads to the new airport and this would undermine the purpose of air travel.

Stating that the petitioner did not object to the opening of new airport, senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Bangalore City Connect Foundation, said that the HAL airport can be used for short-haul domestic flights for public’s convenience.

The Karnataka High Court on April 17 had refused the petitioner’s plea seeking a direction to the Centre and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) against the closing down of the HAL airport.

“However, being conscious of the limitation of the power and jurisdiction of the court and its lack of expertise in dealing with such matters, we decline to grant the interim stay as sought for by the petitioners. But we direct the Union, State and AAI to immediately consider the suggestion to renegotiate the two issues with BIAL and to explore the possibility of minimising, if not completely removing, the inconvenience and difficulty of the people,” the High Court order said.

“It is therefore submitted that the High Court clearly erred in failing to direct continued operation of HAL airport, while itself directing the Union of India to renegotiate the terms of the concession agreement on this issue,” said the petition.

The BIAL consortium comprises Unique Zurich Airport and Siemens Project Ventures, and Larsen and Toubro, with a combined equity stake of 74 pc, and Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation and AAI — holding the remaining 26 pc.SC says no to early hearing
New Delhi, DHNS & Agencies:
The Supreme Court on Friday refused early hearing of a public interest litigation filed by an NGO alleging that the Centre's decision to close down the existing airport in Bangalore for commercial flights was unilateral and arbitrary.


Fixing May 5 for hearing the PIL, a bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran said: “There is no urgency in the matter and it would be heard on the date fixed.”

The NGO, Bangalore City Connect Foundation, had sought a direction to the Centre and the Karnataka government to keep both the existing Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Airport and the new airport at Devanahalli operational for comme-rcial flights to avoid inconvenience to public.

Connectivity between Bangalore and Devana-halli, 40 km away from the City, was bad, and it would take hours for passengers to travel to the new airport, it argued.

Prejudice

The NGO said that a grave prejudice would be caused to residents of Bangalore who would be constrained to commute on congested roads to the new airport and this would undermine the purpose of air travel.

Stating that the petitioner did not object to the opening of new airport, senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Bangalore City Connect Foundation, said that the HAL airport can be used for short-haul domestic flights for public’s convenience.

The Karnataka High Court on April 17 had refused the petitioner’s plea seeking a direction to the Centre and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) against the closing down of the HAL airport.

“However, being conscious of the limitation of the power and jurisdiction of the court and its lack of expertise in dealing with such matters, we decline to grant the interim stay as sought for by the petitioners. But we direct the Union, State and AAI to immediately consider the suggestion to renegotiate the two issues with BIAL and to explore the possibility of minimising, if not completely removing, the inconvenience and difficulty of the people,” the High Court order said.

“It is therefore submitted that the High Court clearly erred in failing to direct continued operation of HAL airport, while itself directing the Union of India to renegotiate the terms of the concession agreement on this issue,” said the petition.

The BIAL consortium comprises Unique Zurich Airport and Siemens Project Ventures, and Larsen and Toubro, with a combined equity stake of 74 pc, and Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation and AAI — holding the remaining 26 pc.