The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by the Jharkhand government to overturn a Jharkhand High Court decision that quashed an FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Manoj Tiwari. The FIR had accused the MPs of unauthorized airport activities, specifically coercing air traffic control staff at Deoghar airport to allow their aircraft to depart after official sunset hours in August 2022.
Justices A S Oka and Manmohan of the Supreme Court, while dismissing the state’s appeal, however, did allow the Jharkhand government four weeks to submit the collected investigation materials to the designated authority under the Aircraft Act. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will then determine if there is a need to file a formal complaint under the Act based on these findings.
The controversy began with an FIR filed at Kunda police station, asserting that the MPs and seven others forced ATC personnel to clear their chartered flight post the permissible time, breaching established airport security protocols. The High Court had earlier nullified the FIR, citing a lack of prior sanction from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, a requisite under the Aircraft (Amendment) Act, 2020 for legal actions against Members of Parliament.
