Celebi security clearance revoked was the decision communicated by the union government to the Delhi High Court on Monday, stating that the Center had decided to cancel the security clearance given to the Turkish ground-handling company Celebi Airport Services after receiving “inputs” that allowing the company to continue operating at airports would be “hazardous.”
During a hearing presided over by Justice Sachin Datta on Celebi’s suit against the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security’s (BCAS) May 15 ruling, the government took a position.
Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, speaking on behalf of Çelebi, informed the high court that the firm had been operating flawlessly for 17 years and that the decision was made because of the public’s belief that Turkish nationals owned the majority of the company’s shares.
According to Rohatgi, public opinion could not be used as an excuse to fire 14,000 workers, and Celebi was not a “rogue company.”
Tushar Mehta, the solicitor general, denied the allegation. Mehta handed a sealed-cover paper to the lone bench and stated, “The government had inputs, and it was determined that it would be hazardous in this scenario in which the country is, to leave this activity in the hands of this company.”
According to Mehta, it would be detrimental to national interest, sovereignty, and security to reveal the rationale behind the BCAS order.
After receiving Mehta’s reply, Justice Datta reviewed the sealed cover containing the “inputs” that were brought to court. The court scheduled a follow-up hearing for May 21.
In its appeal, the business claimed that the BCAS’s decision to cancel its approval without providing any particular explanation and due to national security was “vague” and “unsustainable in law.”
At nine airports in India—Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Kannur, Chennai, and the MOPA airport in Goa—Celebi offered ground-based services until last week.
Celebi Security Clearance Revoked National Security at the Core of the Controversy
According to the petition, BCAS’s order omitted information on Celebi’s national security danger. According to Reuters, the corporation stated in the petition that “it is not legally sustainable to merely talk about national security without providing specifics about how an entity poses a threat to national security.”
The security clearance was revoked in response to growing hostilities between Turkey and India over Turkey’s military and diplomatic connections with Pakistan. In order to guarantee that services were not interrupted, the development caused a rush at the nine airports where the company operated, including Delhi and Mumbai.
For more updates and other exciting news, visit our website now!
