The Bombay High Court took Suo Motu cognizance of the matter relating to the hardship and inconvenience faced by the travellers of Central India, due to the closure of the Nagpur Airport.
A news item is published in the Nagpur City Edition of a newspaper dated 2.8.2024 wherein it is disclosed that the operation of the Nagpur Airport has been closed every day for eight hours since March 2024.
The reason cited for closure of the Airport for such a long period of eight hours during day time is due to repairs to be carried out to the runway.
The news item further discloses that since March 2024 till this date there is hardly any repairing activity carried out.
Considering the geographical location of Nagpur City, being the centre of the country, the operation of the Airport is for the convenience of the people residing in Central India.
In this background, the Division Bench of Justice Nitin W Sambre and Justice Abhay J Mantri deemed it appropriate to take cognizance based on the said news by treating the said news item as Public Interest Litigation.
The Court appointed Advocate Kartik Shukul as an Amicus to assist the Court.
Since the State of Maharashtra, through Principal Secretary, Department of Civil Aviation, the Maharashtra Airport Development Company, Ministry of Civil Aviation Government of India and the Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) are the probable respondents to the said petition in addition to the Airport Authority of India and also Station Manager, Nagpur Airport, the Bench deemed it appropriate to direct issuance of notices to all these parties.
For preliminary consideration, the Court scheduled the hearing of the petition on August 14, 2024 at 2.30 PM.