New Delhi, February 1
The controversial decision of the Union Government on privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports has been challenged in the Supreme Court even as the Cabinet today approved the awarding of the contracts to GMR-Fraport and GVK-South African Airports Consortia for modernisation of the two airports respectively.
The Indian Airport Authority of India Officers Association (IAAIOA) challenged the government's decision on the ground that as per the existing laws, the modernisation could not be done without the prior approval of the Parliament as the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had attained the present shape under the three successive legislations passed by it between 1971 and 1994.
The IAAIOA has taken a cue from the apex court's decision which quashed the privatisation of two public sector oil companies — HPCL and BPCL — during the previous NDA regime on the grounds that they were created by a Parliamentary Act and hence could not be privatised without the legislative approval.
The IAAIOA moved the apex court after its petition was rejected by the Delhi High Court by an order dated September 28, 2005, when the privatisation process was still underway.
They have named the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) as respondents.
The special leave petition (SLP), which was filed some days back, was lying with the apex court registry due to certain defects pointed out by it and was finally accepted this week after the defects were removed. The Court is expected to list it for hearing soon.
While the Delhi High Court had accepted the stand of the Union Government that under Section 12(3) (r) of the AAI Act, 1994, the "Airport Authority" was empowered to do any act, including setting up of a joint venture for the discharge of any function assigned to it, the officers' association in its SLP questioned this contention of the Centre by terming it as contrary to the provisions of the law and argued that the Delhi High Court's conclusion as "erroneous".
