Hearing a PIL by Saurabh Lakhani and a customs expert Arun Goyal , the division bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar issued this order.
The Customs Commissioner of Bangalore, B Bhattacharya who appeared before the court in person assured the court that all rules and notifications with proper manning will be done for the aero show.
The petitioners said that they have apprehensions that the bypassing of the Customs Act, 1962 and relevant customs notifications for this Aero Show may seriously compromise National Security as per Customs Notifications as has been done in all the past seven Aero Shows.
They further stated that over 100 civil and military aircraft worth more than $10 billion have been brought for the past seven Aero Shows without bills of entries and re-export shipping bills involving significant security compromise and violation of relevant customs rules and notifications. “There is also the question whether revenue on the fuel, stocks and give-away gifts which often come on board the aircraft with exhibition goods for prospective buyers was ever collected,” they argued.