Deoghar Airport dispute: HC orders cancellation of FIR lodged against 9

Ranchi, March 13 The Jharkhand High Court on Monday ordered cancellation of the FIR lodged against nine people, including BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Manoj Tiwari, for allegedly trespassing into the Air Traffic Control (ATC) room and forcing officials to clear the take-off of their chartered plane from Deoghar airport.

The incident took place on August 31, 2022 and an FIR was lodged in Kunda police station of the district on the complaint of DSP Suman Anand, posted at the airport.

Dubey had filed a petition in the High Court demanding the cancellation of the FIR. Earlier, during the hearing on this, Advocates Prashant Pallav and Partha Jalan who appeared on behalf of the BJP leader said that the flight took off at 6.17 p.m., and as per rules, it could have taken off till 6.33 p.m.

They added that flights can take off till half an hour after sunset and the sunset time on that particular day was 6.03 p.m.

In the FIR registered in the matter, it was stated that several people, including Dubey and Tiwari entered the ATC without permission and pressured the staff to obtain clearance for the take-off of the chartered plane.

It added that night take-offs and landing facilities are not available at Deoghar airport, which is why the matter was a violation of security rules.

The FIR stated that normal ATC clearance was not given to the plane after sunset because of low visibility and inclement weather.

The complainant wrote that when he reached the ATC room, airport Director Sandeep Dhingra and the pilot of the plane were already there.