The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by the Jharkhand government challenging the High Court’s decision to quash an FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Manoj Tiwari. The FIR alleged that the MPs had forced air traffic control (ATC) personnel at Deoghar airport to authorize takeoff for their aircraft after sunset in 2022, breaching airport security protocols.
Justices A S Oka and Manmohan of the Supreme Court ruled against revisiting the High Court’s judgement, which had dismissed the FIR on procedural grounds, noting that prior sanction was not obtained from the Lok Sabha Secretariat as required by the Aircraft (Amendment) Act, 2020. However, the bench granted the Jharkhand state government the liberty to submit the material gathered during the investigation to the appropriate officer under the Aircraft Act within four weeks.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been tasked to determine if a formal complaint under the Aircraft Act is warranted based on the evidence provided by the state. This decision by the Supreme Court concludes the legal dispute surrounding the alleged incident on August 31, 2022, at Deoghar airport, where Dubey and Tiwari were accused of unduly influencing ATC operations.
