SC refuses to entertain plea on urban infra around airports

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking regulations to control urban infrastructure around airports, which referred to last year’s Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad that killed 241 people on board and 19 doctors and students of a medical college, which was the site of impact.

Refusing to entertain the petition filed by Shakil Sheikh through advocate Laxmikant Matadan Shukla, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana said the issue pertained to policy.

Shukla, appearing for the petitioner, contended that there is infrastructure hazard in and around airports across the country, as there are no regulations to control the growth of urban infrastructure.

He referred to the Air India AI171 crash that killed a total of 260 people on June 12 last year, and said that 19 doctors and students of the BJ Medical College lost their lives as it was the point of impact.

He sought directions to the Centre and other concerned departments for the formulation of regulations to control urban infrastructure in and around airports.

CJI Kant told the counsel that the court was not inclined to entertain the petition as it was purely a policy matter, and asked him whether he would like to withdraw the plea.