VIDARBHA INDIA'S NEXT AVIATION HUB?

With the modernisation process for Nagpur Airport moving ahead in full steam, Vidarbha, a long-overlooked region in Maharashtra, is gaining momentum as a potential aviation hub with significant infrastructure projects like Air India's aviation academy in Amravati and the ISHAN air traffic management scheme. But what will really give a film to the region is the development of Nagpur airport by the GMR Group, the creation of a second runway and a spanking new terminal.

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In a major boost to Nagpur and Vidarbha's infrastructure, the Supreme Court closed a curative petition by the Centre and Airports Authority of India (AAI) in September 2024, allowing GMR Airports Ltd to operate and proceed with the much-delayed modernisation of Nagpur's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.

It was a needless legal tango that was taken up thanks to two civil servants – the Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Rajiv Bansal and the Chairman of the Airport Authority of India, Sanjeev Kumar. While Bansal has superannuated, Sanjeev Kumar continues to rule the roost as the Secretary in the Department of Defence Production. Both of them should be held answerable for the inordinate delay caused by the repeated approach to the court for no reasonable reason.

The curative petition challenged the Maharashtra government's award of an airport contract to GMR in 2019. A special four-judge SC bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Bhushan Gavai, and JK Maheshwari, found no merit in the plea.

In an interesting twist, the Centre's second highest law officer Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, gave a professional opinion against the Centre's curative plea to the SC.

The SC took note of the opinion of the SG that the petition could not be considered under legal standards governing curative petitions, which require showing "glaring errors" or "miscarriage of justice". He further stated that the argument of bias or failure to hear the govt did not apply in this case.

Earlier, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had ruled in favour of GMR, and the Supreme Court had also rejected subsequent review petitions by the govt entities.