GMR says petitioner should pay

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, March 13: Mr Abhishek Singhvi, senior counsel of the Supreme Court, appearing on behalf of GMR Hyderabad International Airport on Thursday told the AP High Court that it should direct a petitioner challenging the closure of the Begumpet airport to deposit Rs 1,000 crore. This sum is a fraction of the investment made by his client for construction of the airport at Shamshabad, Mr Singhvi said.
The petition was filed by Mr S. Srinivas Reddy, a local journalist from Saroornagar. Mr Singhvi argued before a division bench of the High Court that if it wanted to pass an interim order on the petition, it should direct that the petitioner to deposit a fraction of the amount of the GMR group’s investment. He told the court that a division bench of the court had earlier refused to pass an interim order on a petition filed by one B. Venkat Papa Rao with regard to the closure of the airport.
Mr Singhvi submitted to the court that the petitioner had misapplied the Section 6 (1) of the Aircraft Act 1934. It was not applicable to Begumpet airport, which comes under the purview of the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994. He said the decision to close the Begumpet airport was taken in 2000. Mr Singhvi said that the Aircraft Act was amended keeping in view the significant development in the civil aviation sector in India. Mr Singhvi said it was the view of courts that in large infrastructure projects and contractual obligations, no interference should be made by issuing writs. The arguments will continue on Friday.