Bombay HC given first task to new Aviation minister

The Bombay High Court has given the first task to the newly appointed civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The Court has directed to formulate a new nationwide policy for the naming and renaming of airports. A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni, which was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Filji Frederick, said if there is a new policy still in the draft stage, get it done now. You have a new set of ministers now. Let this be the work of the new aviation ministry. It should be the first task of the new aviation minister, the Bombay High Court told Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh.

"We would like to know the present position of draft policy…we took the state government to task last month as there was a gathering violating COVID-19 protocols with nearly 25,000 people. Why should we allow this?" the HC said. The court was referring to a June 24 gathering, demanding that the upcoming airport in Navi Mumbai be named after the late parliamentarian DB Patil who fought for the rights of the project-affected people. The High Court said that a draft policy had been formulated in 2016 to name airports after cities and not individuals. However, the current status of such policy was not known. The court posted Frederick's PIL for further hearing on July 16.