Bombay high court tells Centre to list security measures to prevent terror attacks at Mumbai airport

Raising concerns over security arrangements in and around the city airport, the Bombay high court on Thursday directed the Union government and all agencies responsible for airport security to list the measures to prevent potential terror attacks and security breaches.

A bench of justices RM Savant and Sadhana Jadhav also asked the government to explain how it regulated entry to the airport and its surrounding areas.

It also directed various agencies — the Airport Authority of India, Mumbai International Airport Limited, Director General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) — to submit information on the number of contract labourers at the airport and their responsibilities.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) which alleged security around the airport was lax. The plea also added that in 2014 some officials of the CBI looked the other way on hight violations of the buildings near the airport. The central agency was probing a case in which some buildings flouted height norms.

The petition filed by Yeshwant Shenoy also alleged that the airport authorities in 2016 issued faulty passes for third-party contract labourers appointed by the CISF to load and unload cargo.

The airport authorities were “unprepared to check potential security attacks”, claimed the petition.

The bench noted that this was a “serious issue” and asked if the authorities “checked the credentials of each contract labourer employed in and around the airport”.

The bench said round-the-clock impenetrable security is a must, considering growth of air travel and perpetual rush at the airport. “CISF officials deputed at the entry points are already hard-pressed and they struggle to manage the rush,” the bench said. The bench also directed the CBI to submit within four weeks its preliminary probe report on height violations around the airport.