SC to Centre: Will new aviation policy help Shimla?
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, July 13
The Supreme Court today asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to file an affidavit within three weeks explaining the new policy for grant of licence to airlines, specifying if Shimla stood to benefit from it.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur has reserved its judgment on May 13 on appeals by Air India and Jet Airways challenging the December 7, 2014 directive of the Himachal Pradesh High Court for starting flights from the Jubbarhatti Airport, Shimla, on a trial basis. The HC had passed the order on a PIL plea for resumption of flights to Shimla which remained suspended since September 2012.
During the hearing of the appeals, the apex court has clarified that the government should find a way to resume Delhi-Shimla flights, failing which the court would pass a necessary order.
Today, the Bench heard the case again to seek clarifications on the new Civil Aviation Policy announced by the Centre on June 15. It specifically wanted Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to explain the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCM) envisaged under the new policy.
The court said it came to know of the policy through media reports. It asked Kumar if the viability gap funding, proposed as part of the RCM to help airlines make up for the losses on uneconomical routes, would ensure resumption of Delhi-Shimla flights.
The SG said the policy was aimed at making most of the 450 airports in the country operational to optimise air connectivity on un-served and underserved routes. He, however, said Additional SG (ASG) PS Patwalia, who had argued for the civil aviation ministry, would be in a better position to explain it. At this, the Bench passed an order directing the ministry to file an additional affidavit.
The ministry has informed the court that a technical report on Shimla airport showed that only small planes could cater to the Himachal capital in view of the short runway there.
Earlier, the Centre had accepted the SC’s suggestion for clubbing Shimla with the Northeastern (NE) states and Jammu and Kashmir to force airlines to operate flights to the city.
Metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai figured in category one which had a route share of 50 per cent, while NE states, J and K, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands had a compulsory share of at least 10 per cent. The airlines would have to operate 40 per cent of their flights to other destinations.
Airlines preferred cities other than Shimla under the third category due to various reasons, including the short runway. On February 16, the SC had asked the government to ensure that every airline had flights to uneconomical sectors such as Delhi-Shimla, instead of opting only for profitable sectors.
