Turkey-based aviation firm Çelebi approaches Delhi HC over India’s security clearance revocation

According to Reuters, Çelebi Airport Services India filed a petition with the Delhi High Court on May 16, seeking its direction to set aside the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security's (BCAS) decision.

The company said in its plea that the move affects 3,791 jobs and undermines investor confidence.

“Mere rhetoric of national security without elaborating upon in what manner is an entity a threat to national security is unsustainable in law,” the company stated in the filing, which is not public.

It argued that the order "fails to disclose any specific or substantive reason except for a vague and general reference to 'national security'... (it) provides no reasons or justification."

The court is likely to hear the case on Monday.

In its filing, the company also said that while its shareholders are registered in Turkey, the "majority end control" of the Çelebi group rests with entities that are not incorporated in Turkey.

Earlier on Thursday, after BCAS revoked its security clearance citing national security concerns, Çelebi Hava Servisi AS said it would pursue “all available administrative and legal remedies to challenge these unfounded allegations and to seek the annulment of the aforementioned terminations.”

Following the decision, operations of multiple Çelebi entities in India were suspended, including Çelebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd (CASI), Çelebi GH India Pvt Ltd (CGHI), Çelebi Nas Airport Services India Pvt Ltd, Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd, and Çelebi GS Chennai Pvt Ltd (CGSC).

The development follows Türkiye's military and diplomatic support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and its condemnation of India’s strikes on terror camps in Pakistan.

Çelebi, which has operated in India for over 15 years and employs more than 10,000 people in the country, currently provides ground services at nine major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai.

In a filing to Türkiye’s stock exchange on Friday, Çelebi Hava Servisi AS said that four licence and concession agreements between its Indian subsidiaries and airport authorities had been unilaterally terminated.

These include “The Bridge Mounted Equipment Service Agreement valid until 2036 and the Concession Agreement Ground Handling Services valid until 2029, executed between Çelebi Nas Airport Services India Pvt Ltd (Çelebi Nas), 59 per cent owned by our company, and Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).”

Shares of Çelebi Hava Servisi AS dropped 10 percent on the Istanbul Stock Exchange following the security clearance withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Thursday that national interest and public safety are “paramount and non-negotiable.”