Come up with policy to name/ rename airports; let it be the first task of new aviation ministry: Bombay High Court to Central govt

The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Central government to consider framing a policy for naming and renaming domestic or international airports and aerodromes in the country in order to avoid any form of political or social upheaval and unwarranted controversies surrounding such naming. .A Bench of Justice Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni were hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mumbai lawyer Filji Frederick seeking directions to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and State of Maharashtra to formulate a policy, procedure and framework for naming as well as renaming airports of the State and the country (preferably after the cities which they serve)..Frederick submitted that there so far there is no policy framed yet by the governments for naming/ renaming of airports. "Every time a new airport is to be launched or any existing airport is to be renamed, a controversy brews among political and regional circles with respect to naming the said airport by paying tributes to a well-known personality," Frederick argued..CJ Datta asked the Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh to convey to the Central government to come up with a policy at the earliest. "Let there be a policy in place. If it is a draft then finalise it. If there is no policy, if it is still at draft stage. You have new set of ministers, let this be the work of the new aviation ministry," he said. .The Bench also remarked, "Over the small issue of naming an airport, we took the State government to task, because the rally had 25,000 people and there was violation of COVID protocol" .The Court was referring to a massive rally held in June in which thousands of people demanded renaming of an airport in Mumbai.The Court had taken exception to State politicians and ministers permitting rallies during the COVID-19 pandemic without following protocol and warned of judicial intervention in the event the rallies are not stopped..Activate your machinery to stop rallies, or else we will do it: Bombay High Court warns Maharashtra government.Frederick apprised the Court of the present procedure for naming/ renaming of airports, clarifying that there was no policy whatsoever. The relevant state government passes a resolution in the legislative assembly and council (if any) with the proposed name. The proposal is forwarded to the Centre for their consideration. .In a cabinet note of 2016, the Central government had acknowledged the problems that arose due to naming of airports after personalities. The aviation ministry had supposedly responded to a questions raised in Lok Sabha pertaining to the nomenclature for airports that "no firm or explicit guideline/ instructions exist" and that "a view emerged to name the airports by the name of the city in which they are located/ served". The aviation ministry had also prepared draft guidelines crystallising a policy for naming and renaming of airports which were yet to be finalised, Frederick submitted. .Frederick stated in his PIL that the "airport name game" had turned out to be another tool to disrupt the country's peace.He submitted that there should be a more simple, peaceful, practical approach of naming airports without crediting or discrediting any person. "This airport naming issue has and is still continuing to be nothing more than a breeding ground for political disputes and leads to law-and-order problems" the PIL stated..Frederick sought information through the Right to Information Act on the outcome of the inter-ministerial consultation on the cabinet noteHe also wrote to the aviation ministry to frame a policy for naming of airports in the country. However since he received no response to either of his queries, he filed the present case.