MIAL gets HC relief over replacement for Turkish firm Celebi for ground services at Mumbai airport
Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, who heard the matter, observed that the interim protection granted to Celebi in May could no longer be sustained—particularly in light of the Delhi High Court's recent dismissal of a similar challenge by the firm against the termination of its contract at Delhi airport and the revocation of its security clearance.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had revoked Celebi's security clearance earlier this year after Turkey publicly backed Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the military offensive launched by Indian forces on May 7, 2025. Airports across the country subsequently scrapped contracts with the Turkish ground-handling firm, citing national security concerns.
Celebi had approached the Bombay High Court contesting the cancellation of its security clearance and the consequent termination of its Mumbai contract. While the court has now vacated the interim relief it granted in May, a separate plea challenging the security clearance revocation remains pending before a division bench. That matter is scheduled to be heard on July 24.
'The continuation of the ad-interim order is no longer feasible or justified. Holding up the process of appointing a replacement is neither possible nor tenable. Hence, the interim order stands vacated,' the court said in its order.
The court also noted that since the revocation of Celebi's security clearance, its staff and equipment at Mumbai airport have been taken over by Indo Thai Airport Services, which has assumed responsibility for all ground handling and bridge mounting operations. 'The petitioner has lost all physical access to the airport,' it added.
On May 26, a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court had restrained MIAL from finalising tenders issued on May 17 to select a new ground-handling agency. With Wednesday's ruling, that bar no longer applies.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court, while upholding the Centre's decision to revoke Celebi's security clearance, had cited 'compelling national security considerations' and 'impelling geopolitical concerns' as justification for the move.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
MahaRERA says both physical and virtual hearings available after HC directive on hybrid option
Pune: Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) on Saturday said it already offers both physical and virtual modes of hearing complaints, allowing parties to appear in person whenever such requests are made by them. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The statement follows a recent Bombay High Court directive asking MahaRERA to resume hybrid hearings, underlining that access to justice must include the option of physical presence. "We have been offering physical hearings as part of our regular functioning for those who opt for it. While virtual hearings are more commonly preferred, we do not deny physical hearings to anyone," a senior MahaRERA official told TOI. The court's directive came during the hearing of a petition filed by homebuyer Mayur Desai, who approached the high court seeking restoration of hybrid hearings and faster execution of orders pending since March 2024. Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale observed that "access to justice is not merely about providing virtual access but ensuring that parties also have the right to appear physically." While MahaRERA's counsel submitted that physical hearings are available upon request, the court expressed concern over the perceived emphasis on virtual-only proceedings when most courts have already resumed hybrid hearings. It also directed the authority to review its April 2025 circular and standard operating procedures concerning urgent listings, enforcement of orders, case mentions, and pronouncement of reserved orders. MahaRERA officials said the authority has been conducting in-person hearings regularly. "Over the past six months, 81 complaints were heard physically across seven sessions by the chairperson, and another 19 matters were heard twice in person. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now One matter was heard twice by the full bench," the official said. In a bid to improve efficiency and accessibility, the authority has introduced several procedural reforms. These include pronouncement of orders through pre-notified cause lists with advance intimation to parties, and attendance duly recorded. Circular No. 34(A), issued on April 8, 2025, permits out-of-turn listing of urgent matters, such as life-threatening illnesses, court-directed cases, or applications for rectification. Moreover, on MahaRERA's recommendation, the state govt appointed revenue recovery officers in six districts with high pendency through a govt order issued on April 22, 2025. MahaRERA officials said these steps are part of its broader efforts to build a transparent, efficient, and citizen-friendly grievance redressal system under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Over the last six months, MahaRERA had disposed of 3,002 complaints. "There is demand for physical hearings, mainly from lawyers who practice exclusively in MahaRERA. The rest of the legal fraternity generally prefers virtual hearings due to their convenience. Senior counsels from the high court now frequently appear before MahaRERA virtually, raising the quality of arguments and adjudication," said a homebuyer. Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, trustee of Watchdog Foundation and a regular participant in MahaRERA-related cases, said online hearings work well for simpler RERA matters but added that more complex matters may require physical hearings for credibility assessment. "A well-balanced hybrid model ensures dignity, efficiency, and fairness. I've argued RERA cases from Dallas and London—virtual platforms save time, reduce costs, and make document filing easier," he said. --- **BOX: MahaRERA Complaint Statistics (as of March 2025)** * **Total complaints filed: 29,222 * **Complaints disposed of: 21,520 (73.64%) * **Pending complaints:7,702 * **Non-compliance applications filed: 4,865 * **Disposed: 4,596 (94.47%) * **Pending: 269
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Why US President Donald Trump's ‘dead economy' jibe at India fails to stand up to scrutiny
US President Donald Trump may have referred to India as a 'dead' economy, but the numbers tell a different story. While the Indian economy is expected to slow down in the current fiscal amid the global uncertainties and tariff wars, most recent projections by economists and international agencies paint a fairly bright picture since they see India as the fastest growing large economy in the world with a 6 per cent plus growth rate. Trump's aggressive stance against India in his social media posts has also exposed an inconsistency in America's stance and policy actions considering India and America have engaged together on several crucial initiatives, ranging from critical minerals, trade, defence and space after he took charge as the President in January. The most recent collaboration between India and the US was seen last week as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) placed the NISAR satellite, a first-of-its-kind collaborative project between India and the US, into its intended orbit. NISAR, which stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, is the most powerful Earth observation satellite to be put in space, the result of over one decade of research and development by the space agencies of India and the US. The collaboration is set to expand as ISRO is planning to launch the Block 2 BlueBird communications satellite, developed by the US-based AST SpaceMobile, over the course of next few months. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US in February, the two countries on several initiatives including the Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology (TRUST) initiative — a bilateral initiative for cooperation in the recovery and processing of critical minerals such as lithium and rare earth elements. It was seen as a step towards reducing barriers to technology transfer, addressing export controls, and enhancing high-tech commerce. The TRUST initiative followed India's induction into the US-led Minerals Security Finance Network in September last year. India had joined the Minerals Security Partnership in 2023. A move towards stronger trade ties was also discussed in detail during Modi's US visit, with the countries agreeing to double their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. India's trade relationship with the US has already been strengthening. In 2024, the total goods trade between the two nations stood at $129.2 billion, with the US' exports to India rising 3.4 per cent to $41.8 billion, while its imports were up 4.5 per cent at $87.4 billion, resulting in a deficit of $45.7 billion for the US. India's rising exports of electronic goods, especially smartphones, to the US have been in focus. India's share in US' smartphone imports surged to nearly 36 per cent in the first five months of 2025, driven mainly by Apple's iPhones, from about 11 per cent in 2024. China, which continues to dominate the category, saw its share drop from 82 per cent to 49 per cent over the same period. Roughly 20 per cent of Apple's global iPhone production capacity is now based in India. Trump's often-cited charge against India has been of it being a 'Tariff King', and India in response has made a conscious effort to broadcast the message that it is not. In the Union Budget for 2025-26, presented in February, duties on the top 30 US goods imported by India, including crude oil, LNG, coal, diamonds, aeroplanes, and motor vehicles, were reduced. In the automobile sector, India lowered tariffs on motorcycles based on engine capacity. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also highlighted the same, pointing out last month that India has reduced the tariff rates to eight, including the zero per cent rate. Modi and Trump had also agreed to renew the 10-year defence framework, with the American President having mentioned increasing military supplies to India and ultimately providing the F-35 stealth fighter. The two leaders had announced plans to pursue new procurements and co-production arrangements for Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and Stryker infantry combat vehicles and six additional P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. Earlier this month, an official statement said India and the US will sign a new 10-year defence partnership framework when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, meet later this year. While there are some downside risks to the Indian growth story from Trump's threat of a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods and a 'penalty' for its energy and arms imports from Russia, even a 20-40 bps decline in the growth rate to 6 per cent or so will not stop the economy from being the fastest growing large economy in the world. This is evident in the growth projections made by prominent global rating and multilateral agencies. Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India's GDP growth forecast to 6.4 per cent for both 2025-26 and 2026-27 after it had cut the projection for the current fiscal by 30 bps to 6.2 per cent in April. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also has predicted growth for FY26 to be stable at 6.5 per cent – the same as in the last fiscal. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry estimates growth to be in the range of 6.3-6.8 per cent, saying in its latest monthly economic review report that the economy presents a picture of 'cautious optimism' in the face of global headwinds marked by trade tensions, geopolitical volatility, and external uncertainties. To be sure, the Finance Ministry has flagged slow credit growth and the private sector's investment appetite as issues. But these hardly make an economy 'dead' — especially one which the IMF estimates as the fifth-largest in the world with a GDP of $3.9 trillion in 2024. And it's only going to get better — by 2028, the IMF expects India to overtake Germany and Japan and rise to the third spot, only behind the US and China. While Trump called both India and Russia as 'dead economies', the latter is a different animal altogether. Unlike India's, the Russian economy has suffered from its war against Ukraine, with GDP growth averaging 2.2 per cent from 2022 to 2024, per IMF. This is even lower than the US' average growth rate of 2.7 per cent over the same period. The figure for India, meanwhile, is 7.8 per cent. Trump's comments, the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on India, and an as-yet unspecified penalty — even as officials from the two countries are negotiating a bilateral trade deal — is being viewed as Washington putting pressure on New Delhi to quickly come to an agreement. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has admitted as much, saying on Thursday that Trump and the American trade team were frustrated by the pace of talks with India. 'India came to the table early. They have been slow-rolling things, so I think that the President, the whole trade team is frustrated with them,' Bessent told CNBC. However, just like the US, India has a duty to its people and must get the best possible deal. As Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the government will take 'all necessary steps to secure our national interest'. Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports on the macro economy and fiscal policy, with a special focus on economic science, labour trends, taxation and revenue metrics. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she has also reported in detail on macroeconomic data such as trends and policy actions related to inflation, GDP growth and fiscal arithmetic. Interested in the history of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to read about its culture and tradition in her spare time, along with trying to map the journeys of displacement from there. ... Read More Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
India indicates it will keep buying Russian oil despite Trumps threats
NEW DELHI (AP) — India has indicated that it would continue buying oil from Russia despite threats by U.S. President Donald Trump. The Indian foreign ministry said its relationship with Russia was 'steady and time-tested,' and should not be seen through the prism of a third country. Addressing a weekly presser on Friday, spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said India's broader stance on securing its energy needs was guided by the availability of oil in the markets and prevailing global circumstances. The comments follow an announcement by President Donald Trump that he intends to impose a 25% tariff on goods from India plus an additional import tax because of New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. The threat came as the U.S. president has increasingly soured on Russia for failing to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. India bought 68,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Russia in January 2022, but by June of same year oil imports rose to 1.12 million barrels per day. The daily imports peaked at 2.15 million in May 2023 and have varied since. Supplies rose as high as nearly 40% of India's imports at one point, making Moscow the largest supplier of crude to New Delhi, the Press Trust of India reported, citing data from Kpler, a data analytics company. India's daily oil consumption is pegged around 5.5 million barrels, of which nearly 88% is met through imports. The country has historically bought most of its crude from the Middle East, but this has changed since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the U.S., began buying Russian oil available at discounted rates after the West shunned it to punish Moscow.
