Madras HC allows AAI to float tender to replace Çelebi, but with riders

The AAI also gave an undertaking that the equipment left behind by Çelebi will not be used by the other ground operators

The Madras High Court on Monday allowed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to proceed with a public tender seeking a replacement for Turkish ground and cargo handling firm Çelebi’s Indian subsidiary, whose security clearance was cancelled by the central government last month.

 

During the hearing, AAI informed the Madras HC that though it will have to float a tender to hire a new ground handling and cargo, the tender will mention that the outcome of the bidding will be subject to the litigation initiated by Çelebi Airport Services India at Madras and Delhi high courts.

 

The AAI also gave an undertaking that the equipment left behind by Çelebi will not be used by other ground operators. The Chennai airport needs at least three ground handling and cargo management firms, the AAI said. 

 

In May, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) revoked the security clearance of Istanbul-headquartered ground handling firm Çelebi Airport Services India, citing concerns over national security. Çelebi, which employed more than 10,000 people in India, used to provide ground services at nine major airports across the country. The people employed by Çelebi have since been absorbed into the operations of other ground and cargo handling companies operating at these airports.

 

In a statement issued then, Çelebi had “unequivocally” refuted the “misleading and factually incorrect allegations” concerning its ownership and operations in India.

 

The company had then said that Çelebi Aviation India was 65 per cent owned by international institutional investors based in Canada, the US, the UK, Singapore, the UAE, and Western Europe. The remaining 35 per cent, the company had then said, was held by the founding Çelebioğlu family in Türkiye, with equal shares held by Can Çelebioğlu and Canan Çelebioğlu. It had also emphasised that neither Can nor Canan has any “political affiliations or associations” of any kind.

 

(With inputs from Deepak Patel)