HC seeks govt reply on plea to conduct security audit at IGI

The Delhi High Court today sought responses from the Centre and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on a plea seeking to conduct security audit at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Centre and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security under the Ministry of Civil Aviation on the plea which has also sought installation of PNR scanners at the airport to verify the authencity of e-tickets at the entry gate.
Passenger Name Record (PNR) is a record of passengers or a group of passengers travelling together by train or flight.

The court posted the matter for further hearing on March 20 next year.
The petition, filed by advocate M Sufian Siddiqui, has arrayed the Director General Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Delhi International Airports Ltd and the Ministry of Home Affairs as parties in the matter.
The DGCA counsel who was present in the court said the security matter fell under the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.

"Security is under the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security which falls under Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA has nothing to do with the security at IGI," the counsel said.
The petitioner pointed to the plight of a British national who had to recently undergo the legal quagmire for entering the wrong terminal at the IGI airport despite having a valid e-ticket.

"The only fault of the said person was that he was erroneously allowed by the CISF officials to enter the wrong Terminal Building albeit he had a valid e-ticket, which staggeringly only mentioned Indira Gandhi Airport and did not mention the terminal number.
"But the price he had to pay was to face criminal prosecution as he was arrested and arraigned as an accused besides confiscating his British Passport and mobile phone," the petition said. However, later the foreigner was absolved from the case.
Siddiqui also pointed out various instances in which people have entered or attempted to enter the airport with fake tickets.

The petition also sought to provide adequate education and training to the staff and CISF officials deployed at the entry gate of the terminal buildings of the airport.
It also sought to establish an "Airport Security Committee" for the effective coordination amongst different government agencies responsible for the management of security at the IGI Airport.