Move Andhra Pradesh HC: Delhi High Court rejects PIL against closure of old Visakhapatnam airport

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging the closure of Visakhapatnam airport at Dega after commercial operations were transferred to the new Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the petitioner, Gopala Krishna Kosaraju, to agitate his grievance before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The Bench said that since the dominant cause of action arose in Andhra Pradesh, the petitioner must approach the jurisdictional High Court.

"Petition dismissed on the ground of forum convenience. It is needless to say that the petitioner will be at liberty to agitate his case before the jurisdictional High Court," the Court ordered.

The old Visakhapatnam airport at INS Dega, which had handled scheduled commercial flights for decades, ceased such operations last month. The shutdown followed the inauguration of the new Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram on August 1.

All scheduled passenger flights were transferred to the new airport, while INS Dega remains available for non-scheduled and military operations.

Advocate Pranav Sachdeva appeared for the petitioner and argued that the new airport is nearly 60 Km from the city of Visakhapatnam and takes over two hours to reach.

"There is no connectivity, and the people are suffering. The existing airport was built with thousands of crores of rupees," he said.

However, the Bench replied that the "sufferers are in Visakhapatnam" and the petitioner must approach the jurisdictional High Court.