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It is better to be safe than sorry, the Delhi high court remarked on Monday, as it heard a petition by Turkey-based company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd against the revocation of its security clearance in the wake of the country’s support to Pakistan amid tensions with India.

On May 15, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) revoked Celebi’s security clearance, citing “national security”, days after Turkey backed Pakistan and condemned India’s strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The security clearance to the company was given in November 2022. 

“The rule is better safe than sorry,” a single bench of justice Sachin Datta told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for the aviation firm. 

Celebi operated in the Indian aviation sector for more years, offering its services at nine airports and employing over 10,000 people. It handles around 58,000 flights and 5,40,00 tonnes of cargo annually in India, PTI quoted its website as saying.

The court’s remarks came as Mr Rohtagi said public perception cannot be used to take away employment. “We are not a rogue company,” he said. 

“No reason mentioned, no opportunity of hearing given. It appears that it is because of public perception because the shareholding of this company is of Turkish nationals,” he added. 

The lawyer said his client has been operating in India for 17 years. “My lords, there is a procedure that must be followed. One cannot trample my business with a two-line letter without notice,” he said. 

The bench, however, observed that a prior notice may prove counter-productive amid apprehensions over the nation’s security. If such a notice is served, then it may hasten one to do what is apprehended, it said.

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the petitioner deals with operations at airports. “Every such person knows the nook and cranny of aircraft and airports. Passenger’s luggage is not cargo. All flights are passenger-cum-cargo,” he said.

“We are dealing with the most delicate subject of civil aviation and national security and sovereignty of the nation,” he added. 

Mr Mehta also referred to BCAS’ notice to Celebi that said the right to issue a security clearance lies solely with the Civil Aviation Ministry. The ministry, he added, reserves the right to revoke the clearance without any specific reason.

In matters involving national security, there cannot be a “doctrine of proportionality”, the Solicitor General said. 

As Mr Rohatgi maintained that Celebi employs Indian citizens to handle services across the nine airports, his opponent said: “Who controls and who gives instructions, that matters.”

“The enemy can make 10 attempts and has to succeed in one. Security agencies have to succeed on all 10 occasions. National security based on civil aviation security has to be placed on the highest pedestal,” he said.

The High Court adjourned the matter till May 21. It also asked the Centre under which provisions did it revoke the security clearance to Celebi.

In its plea, Celebi said that “vague” national security concerns were cited in the notice without reasoning, a report by news agency Reuters said.

Besides Turkey, Azerbaijan has offered its support to Pakistan in the wake of the Indian strikes under Operation Sindoor. The strikes were in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists. 

Turkey and Azerbaijan’s support has triggered calls to boycott visits to the two nations, in India. Travel websites said they have witnessed a decline in bookings and a dump in cancellations in visits to the two countries. 

The Confederation of All India Traders have also decided to boycott all trade and commercial engagement with Turkey and Azerbaijan

There was no ‘nuclear signalling‘ by Islamabad during the military conflict with Pakistan earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told Parliament Monday evening.

Mr Misri told the House’s Standing Committee on External Affairs the conflict remained “conventional” and that Islamabad’s use of Chinese-made weaponry – including the HQ-9 missile defence system – was irrelevant because “what matters is we hit their air bases hard…”

However, he declined to comment on any Indian fighter jets that may have been shot down, citing national security constraints. There were reports Pak shot down five Indian jets.

Concerns that nuclear facilities – for weapons or civil use – may be targeted, deliberately or inadvertently, were red-flagged during the conflict. Such concerns were also shouted out by Pakistan in an attempt to paint India as the aggressor and ‘blackmail’ the Indian armed forces into submission.

These, however, were dismissed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr Modi had said India will not be intimidated by ‘nuclear blackmail’. “Any terrorist safe haven operating under this pretext will face precise and decisive strikes,” he declared.

The Indian Air Force earlier trashed rumours its strikes had hit Pak’s Kirana Hills, where that country’s nuclear facility is reportedly based. In a humorous aside, Air Marshal AK Bharti told reporters he hadn’t even heard of Kirana Hills and thanked the press for the ‘tip’.

‘No Trump, US Role In Ceasefire’

In a detailed briefing about Operation Sindoor – India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack – Mr Misri also said the United States had no role to play in the May 12 ceasefire.

This was in response to questions about US President Donald Trump’s claims about having averted a ‘nuclear war’ between India and Pakistan, and having ‘solved’ the Kashmir issue.

The Committee was told Pak had reached out first; this was on the afternoon of May 10 and after precision strikes by the Indian military hit Pak military installations, including the Chines-made HQ-9 system in Lahore and the strategically important Nur Khan air base.

Mr Misri told the Committee a plea for a ceasefire came from Islamabad, specifically from Pakistan’s Director-General of Military Operations, who reached out to his counterpart in Delhi.

There was no ‘third-party mediation’ in this matter, Mr Misri assured the panel.

The Foreign Secretary – who was the face of the government, with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, for the 100-hours of the conflict with Pak – was also grilled about US President Donald Trump’s many claims that he had brokered a ‘peace’.

Does the rule of law or the rule of muscle power prevail in the state, the Bombay High Court has asked while slamming the state-run city planning agency CIDCO for failing to act against illegal structures on a land plot in Navi Mumbai.

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal in the order passed earlier this month said the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) authorities were not desirous of taking stringent action against unauthorised constructions.

The CIDCO informed the court that when they had tried to initiate legal action against the illegal structures, they were threatened by the sarpanch of Bokadvira village.

The bench then said that officers, while performing their lawful duties, are entitled to get sufficient police protection, and it is the duty of the authorities to prevent illegalities and establish the rule of law.

“We fail to understand, as to whether, we live in a State where rule of law prevails or the rule of muscle power prevails,” the high court said.

The threats extended by the sarpanch of Bokadvira village cannot be countenanced in a democratic state, as the CIDCO officers are performing their lawful duties, it added.

The court was hearing a petition filed by a couple in 2016, seeking a direction to the CIDCO to demolish the unauthorised structures erected by one Deepak Patil on their land in Navi Mumbai.

As per the plea, the illegal structures (shops) have been constructed on 123 sq metres of the land owned by the petitioners.

The court directed the CIDCO to adopt all necessary legal measures to remove unauthorised constructions made on the petitioners’ land within a period of one week.

“As the officers of CIDCO have expressed threat to their life and/or opposition or protest from the sarpanch of Bokadvira gram panchayat, we direct the Navi Mumbai Commissioner of Police to provide sufficient and adequate police protection to the officers,” the bench said.

The bench took note of the affidavit submitted by the CIDCO in 2022, confirming the structures were unauthorised. Despite this, in the last decade, no pains have been taken by the CIDCO to take legal action against the illegal structures, the court said.

“CIDCO is established to have planned development in the State. Navi Mumbai is also established to have a planned, developed city of the 21st century,” the court noted.

However, the action of the CIDCO officers clearly indicates that they are bent on frustrating the intention of the state to have a planned development, the high court said.

Mumbai’s streets, gasping for space, can no longer double as graveyards for abandoned vehicles, the Bombay High Court has said with a clear order to all police stations for strict implementation of the traffic police’s directives for disposal of such vehicles.

A bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Advait Sethna said mere dumping of such vehicles at a dumping yard won’t suffice and called for continuous action to dispose of them.

The order was passed on May 8.

“In a city like Mumbai, which has an acute scarcity of space and limited space on public roads and footpaths, such public spaces cannot be encroached by dumping or storing vehicles seized or confiscated by the police,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Marathon Maxima Co-op Housing Society, which raised concerns about parking/dumping of towed or confiscated vehicles by a nearby police station outside the society’s gates, causing obstruction.

The additional commissioner of police, traffic department, in an affidavit, said a communication was issued to all police stations across the city last month, advising that all abandoned or confiscated vehicles shall be moved to a dumping yard.

The bench urged the state government to identify convenient locations in each civic ward to dump confiscated or seized vehicles.

“Merely dumping of the vehicles at the dumping site would not suffice. In the event these vehicles are no longer required, a continuous action is required to be taken to dispose of these vehicles, for which appropriate advisory needs to be issued,” the court said.

The court posted the matter for further hearing on July 2 and asked the traffic department to mention the steps it proposes to take for a long-term solution to the issues raised in the plea.

It further said the directives issued in the communication have to be meticulously followed by all police stations.

The bench directed the officer in-charge of police stations to adhere to the directions and not accumulate vehicles outside police stations.

“We clarify that the directions issued by the traffic department ought not to fall on deaf ears and needs to be strictly followed and implemented by the police stations,” the court said.

It further stated that any breach of the orders will invite appropriate departmental action against the concerned officer.

As per the traffic police’s affidavit, a contract has also been awarded to a private company by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to identify and scrap such abandoned vehicles. 

The Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) appears to be making a comeback with a significant surge in cases across Hong Kong and Singapore, two of Asia’s biggest cities. With 164 fresh cases reported since May 12, India, too, is seeing a rise in cases. India currently has 257 active COVID-19 cases, with Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu leading the number tally.

In the past week, Kerala reported 69 new cases, Maharashtra logged 44 and Tamil Nadu added 34 cases. Maharashtra also reported two deaths, which, according to doctors, are not COVID-19 deaths, but both patients were found to be COVID-19 positive.

COVID-19 In Maharashtra

Maharashtra currently has 56 active COVID-19 cases. Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital recently reported two deaths – a 59-year-old cancer patient and a 14-year-old girl suffering from kidney disease.

Though both patients died of underlying illness, they also tested positive for COVID-19. Questions are being raised on why COVID was not written in the death certificate.

KEM Hospital reportedly didn’t hand over the body of a 59-year-old woman to the family. “The woman was cremated at the Bhoiwada crematorium with only two family members, as per protocol,” said Anil Kokil, Former Corporator.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) clarified that the two patients died due to serious co-morbidities and not COVID-19. Both patients were brought to Mumbai for treatment from Sindhudurg and Dombivali, it said.

Amid rising cases, Mumbai’s healthcare infrastructure has come under scrutiny. Nearly 200 new primary health centers (PHCs) and sub-centers are reportedly unable to function owing to a lack of staff, funds and facilities.

Neha Kadam, Community Health Volunteer at Kasturba Prathmik Kendra in Mumbai, also highlighted the issue of a lack of staff and infrastructure. “Each staff member is responsible for 1,200 homes. The staff does not have a chair to sit on. We have to go on the ground to check on patients. The facilities are not as good as they should be. Preparations should be made given the increasing cases,” she said.

The BMC has urged Mumbaikars to be cautious and not to panic. The situation is under control and hospitals are fully prepared, it said.

Very few cases of COVID-19 were reported in Mumbai from January 2025 to April 2025. Some cases have been reported in May, but their number is extremely limited, and no cluster or serious outbreak has been reported so far, BMC said

An eight-year-old girl who fell into a drain in Mumbai was rescued by a 28-year-old man, who later drowned as he was stuck inside, police said.

The incident took place in Ghatkopar area on Sunday.

According to the officials at Pantnagar Police Station, the girl was trying to retrieve her ball that had slipped inside the drain, when she fell inside. The minor, however, struggled to get out due to the depth of the drain.

Shahzad Shaikh, a daily wage labourer, was passing by when he heard the screams of the girl, the police said. He immediately stepped inside the drain to rescue her.

After Shaikh handed over the girl to another man standing near the drain, he tried but could not get out. He eventually drowned in the drain.

A team of the fire brigade and police rushed to the spot and took him to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Police said an Alternative Dispute Resolution has been registered and a probe is underway.

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