New Delhi [India], September 2 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a public interest litigation challenging the closure of commercial operations at Visakhapatnam airport at INS Dega, observing that the matter should be taken before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia dismissed the petition filed by Gopala Krishna Kosaraju on the ground of forum convenience, while granting him liberty to approach the jurisdictional High Court.
“Petition dismissed on the ground of forum convenience. It is needless to say that the petitioner will be at liberty to agitate his case before the jurisdictional High Court,” the Court ordered.
The plea challenged the decision to discontinue scheduled commercial flight operations from the old Visakhapatnam airport after services were shifted to the newly inaugurated Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram.
Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the new airport was located around 60 kilometres from Visakhapatnam city and that passengers were facing difficulties due to poor connectivity.
“There is no connectivity, and the people are suffering. The existing airport was built with thousands of crores of rupees,” the counsel submitted.
The Bench, however, pointed out that the persons affected by the decision were residents of Visakhapatnam and that the dominant cause of action had arisen in Andhra Pradesh.
“The sufferers are in Visakhapatnam,” the Court observed, asking the petitioner to approach the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the authorities had acted arbitrarily in shutting down commercial operations at the existing airport instead of allowing both airports to function. He contended that shifting all commercial flights to an airport located around 60 kilometres away, requiring nearly two hours of travel from parts of Visakhapatnam, had caused inconvenience to the public.
“Suffering was of people of Visakhapatnam, not Delhi,” the Bench told the petitioner’s lawyer.
The old airport at INS Dega had handled scheduled commercial flights for several decades before such operations were discontinued last month. The move followed the inauguration of the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram on August 1.
All scheduled passenger flight services have since been shifted to the new airport, while INS Dega continues to remain operational for military and non-scheduled purposes.
The High Court ultimately declined to examine the merits of the challenge and left it open to the petitioner to pursue his grievance before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. (ANI)
Delhi HC declines to entertain plea against Vizag airport closure, suggests petitioner approach Andhra Pradesh HC
