Granting relief to a whistleblower couple employed with Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Bombay high court recently allowed the husband to make a fresh representation to a higher authority again
Granting relief to a whistleblower couple employed with Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Bombay high court recently allowed the husband to make a fresh representation to a higher authority against his suspension.
The division bench of Justice Anoop V. Mohta and Amjad A. Sayyed allowed K.S. Lakshminarasimhan to make a fresh representation to S. Raheja, member (planning) AAI, who has been holding charge of the post of AAI chairman for three months. Lakshminarasimhan was suspended for appearing in the high court along with his wife who had filed a public interest litigation against alleged violation of safety rules due to high-rise buildings in the vicinity of the airports.
Lakshminarasimhan and his wife S. Mangala had filed petition against suspension. They contended before the court that Lakshminarasimhan was suspended because his wife was a whistleblower in a scam in AAI pertaining to high-rise buildings being allowed in the vicinity of the airports and also because he had appeared along with his wife in the high court during the hearing of a PIL about alleged violation of safety rules due to such buildings.
The PIL, which became the cause of the petitioner’s suspension, involved alleged safety violations by AAI to grant building height clearances to high- rises that came along the flight paths of Juhu airport and Mumbai airport.
He argued that the order of December 17, 2015, suspending him is illegal because it was issued without conducting a preliminary inquiry into the allegations made against him. Petitioner’s wife is also AAI deputy general manager (Aviation Safety). The matter has been adjourned by four weeks to enable the respondents — secretary of Ministry of civil aviation and the current AAI chairman — to file affidavits in reply.
