Delhi High Court Upholds AAI Tower Height Restriction For Shristi Infra Project Near Kolkata Airport

The Delhi High Court has upheld the Airports Authority of India's decision to restrict the height of a tower in a commercial project near Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata. The court held that courts cannot re-assess with technical decisions taken by specialised aviation authorities A division bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar allowed AAI's appeal and restored its March 8, 2019 communication denying Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd additional height for Tower-II. The court held that AAI was justified in treating Tower-I and Tower-II together as a “large structure” under the Height Restrictions for Safeguarding Aircraft Operations Rules, 2015 The bench said, “A court of law cannot be converted into a technical appellate tribunal to reassess or substitute its own conclusions for those arrived at by the competent authority.” It added that the court's role in such cases “is supervisory rather than substitutive” Shristi Infrastructure had developed a two-tower project at New Town, Rajarhat, about 7 km from the Kolkata airport, for which height clearance from AAI was mandatory. While a 2006 no-objection certificate permitted both towers up to 144.53 metres above mean sea level, construction delays and other administrative issues led to reassessment under subsequent aviation safety rules which resulted in reduced permissible height for Tower-II After a joint site inspection and technical analysis under the 2015 Rules, AAI concluded that the two towers together subtended an azimuth angle exceeding 0.4 degrees and therefore constituted a “large structure.” Tower-II was consequently restricted to the previously approved height A Single Judge had earlier upheld AAI's technical findings but set aside the March 2019 communication as unreasoned. Reversing that view, the Division Bench held that reasons were clearly traceable from the record and that the final communication need not be elaborate. It restored AAI's decision and dismissed Shristi Infrastructure's appeal Case Title: Airports Authority of India v. Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and OrsCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1776 Case Number: LPA 1168/ 2024 For Appellants: Advocate Digvijay Rai, Standing Counsel for AAI with Advocates Archit Mishra and Abhishek Singh,Sachin Yadav DGM Law, Advocates Sushant Singhal JE Law Officer and Mr. K.K. Soni, Jt. GM (ATM) For Respondents: Senior Advocate Arvind Naiyar, with Advocates Vijay K. Singh, Kumar Shashwat Singh Sawno, Diksha Dadu, Shubham Pandey, Sanjukta Kashyap and Ankur Mishra, Rakesh Kumar with Advocate SunilClick Here To Read/Download Order

Delhi High Court Upholds AAI Tower Height Restriction For Shristi Infra Project Near Kolkata Airport

Shilpa Soman

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