Airport ops firm Celebi moves court over BCAS order to revoke security clearance
The company said BCAS’s decision only cited national security without offering any reason why the firm was a threat to India’s national security
NEW DELHI: Turkish-founded Çelebi Airport Services Pvt Ltd, which provided ground handling and cargo services at nine airports, on Friday approached the Delhi high court against the decision of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to cancel its security clearance.
In its plea, the company said BCAS’s decision only cited national security without offering any reason why the firm was a threat to India’s national security and that the order was “vague” and “unsustainable in law”.
The petition is expected to be taken up by the high court on Monday.
The plea comes a day after BCAS issued an order cancelling the security clearance granted to the company in 2022. “... the security clearance in r/o Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of national security,” BCAS said in an order amid mounting tensions between India and Turkey over the latter’s diplomatic and military ties to Pakistan.
The company handled ground-based services at 9 airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Kannur, Chennai, and the MOPA airport in Goa. It also runs one of Delhi airport’s two cargo terminals.
Its petition said the decision was taken without any warning and would adversely impact its employees as well as investor confidence in the firm. Besides, it said the company had undergone background checks and security verifications by security and intelligence agencies before commencement of its operations.
Following the BCAS order, the companies contracted to run the airports where Celebi was operating started terminating its arrangement with the company for providing ground handling and cargo services.
They also promised to ensure that the firm’s employees would be accommodated in line with civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu’s assurance on Thursday.
The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd and Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd were overseeing ground handling and cargo terminal functions, respectively. DIAL also said all employees on the rolls of Celebi entities for cargo and ground handling services at IGI Airport will be transitioned to the new employer(s) with immediate effect and will continue under their existing terms and conditions of employment. Adani Airport Holding, which owns and operates the Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports, as well as the Mangalore, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Thiruvananthapuram airports, said it had also terminated the ground handling agreements with Celebi at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA).
“Accordingly, Celebi has been directed to immediately hand over to us all ground handling facilities to ensure uninterrupted operations,” a spokesperson for Adani Airport Holdings said in a statement.
“All existing employees of Celebi at CSMIA and SVPIA will be transferred to the new ground handling agencies on their existing terms and conditions of employment,” the company said.
