Bench recuses from hearing HAL airport plea

 The move came after one of the petitioners - Airports Authority of India Employees’ Union - filed a 200-page document on the issue, which has already been reserved for judgement.
The Chief Justice, who was upset over this, said: “I am unhappy with this. My whole vacation was spent on this, trying to resolve it. I have never seen such things in my life. Whether you gain or lose, you make it an issue.”

The case, which was filed in 2008, has been heard by eight different benches. The matter was reserved for judgement after the ninth bench comprising the Chief Justice had heard it. However, on the orders of the bench, the matter will now be placed before the Registrar General to be placed before an appropriate bench.

The PIL had challenged the Centre’s move to close the HAL airport after the Bengaluru International Airport commenced operation in 2008. The petitioners contended that the closure of the airport would cause inconvenience and hardships to air passengers and a huge revenue loss, amounting to Rs 500 crore annually.

Order stayed

A Division Bench headed by Justice Manjula Chellur stayed the order of Justice Shylendra Kumar who had directed BMRCL to submit the entire sketch of the Metro project along with the balance sheet of BMRCL since its inception. Justice Kumar had passed the order while hearing two petitions challenging the Metro alignment at Yeshwantpur and RV Road. The BMRCL filed an appeal challenging his order to produce the documents.