RAJASTHAN PATRIKA PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the order dtd. 16/10/2023 issued by Respondent No. 4, Designated Officer of Airport Authority of India ('AAI'), whereby, the application seeking 'No Objection Certificate' ('NOC') for height clearance of the building of the Petitioner to 461 mtrs. Above Mean Sea Level ('AMSL') under Rule 5 of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Height Restrictions for Safeguarding of Aircraft Operations) Rules, 2015 has been rejected.

(2.) It is stated that the Petitioner is the perpetual leaseholder of an industrial plot no. B-8 (B&C) ad-measuring 4026 sq. mtrs. located at RIICO Malviya Industrial Area, Jaipur, Rajasthan ('subject Plot') which is situated at a distance of 3.4 Kilometers from the runway-end-27 of Jaipur International Airport.

(3.) Learned senior counsel for the Petitioner states that an Aeronautical Study by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been recognized to be one of the procedures for determination of permissible heights for the buildings without interfering with safety aircraft operations and can be conducted for existing structures. He states that in this writ petition, Petitioner is seeking a direction to Respondents to have the Aeronautical Study conducted at the cost of Petitioner and place the same before the Appellate Committee, AAI during the appeal. He states that the reason why the Petitioner has approached this Court is that as per Clause 6.2 of the Aerodrome Safeguarding Circular ('ADSAC') 05 of 2020 [Annexure-P11]("Circular') it is a prerequisite condition that the applicant must demolish the existing structure to the extent it is beyond the permissible height limit, for the appeal to be entertained.