CENTRE FOR AVIATION POLICY Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, filed by the Centre for Aviation Policy, Safety and Research (CAPSR), seeks quashing of the Requests For Proposal (RFPs) issued by the respondent no.2 for engaging agencies to provide Ground Handling Services at Groups C and D airports. The impugned RFP in respect of Group C airports was issued on 15.04.2020 bearing tender ID 2020_AAI_54002_1, whereas the impugned RFP of Groups D-1 and D-2 airports were issued on 28.07.2020 bearing tender ID 2020_AAI_46811_1.

(2.) The petitioner, a non-profit organization registered in 2012, claims to be carrying out independent research, advisory and advocacy in the field of civil aviation. As per the petitioner, its members comprise of firms and entities providing services in the aviation sector, including the micro, small and medium enterprises providing Ground Handling Services (hereinafter referred to as 'GHS') across the airports in the country. The petitioner's grievance against the impugned RFPs is that the eligibility criteria contained therein are not only a radical departure from the past, but also stipulate onerous technical and financial qualifications, thereby rendering most of the extant ground handling agencies ineligible to participate in the tender process, especially those which have been providing GHS at the smaller airports of the country, that fall under the categories of Groups C, D-1 and D2 airports, for the last many years. The petitioner is also aggrieved that the prescribed technical and financial qualifications have no correlation with the ground handling services that the service providers are expected to provide at the Groups C, D-1 and D-2 airports, and that the same have been arbitrarily and whimsically tailored with a view to oust the existing GHS providers, who have been providing these services for years, without any complaint.

(3.) The respondent no.1 is the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the Government of India which is responsible for formulating national policies and programmes for development and regulation of the civil aviation sector, while respondent no.2 - the Airport Authority of India, a Category-I Public Sector Enterprise, is a statutory body established under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994. The respondent no.2 works under the aegis of the respondent no.1 and is tasked with creating, maintaining, upgrading, and managing the civil aviation infrastructure in India; it controls and administers nearly 83 domestic airports within the territory of India, which cater to both - scheduled and non-scheduled aircrafts.