HC dismisses PIL against Pantnagar Airport land transfer

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand high court has dismissed a public interest litigation challenging the transfer of 212.5 hectares of land linked to GB Pant University, Pantnagar, for the expansion of Pantnagar airport, holding that the land belonged to the state govt and that its use for public purposes was within the govt’s discretion.A bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, in its order on Wednesday, declined to interfere with the state’s decision and relied on an earlier ruling of a coordinate bench that rejected a similar challenge by the university’s teachers association.The petition, filed by Rakesh Sharma, a member of the association, sought to quash the July 11, 2024 order transferring the land from Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority to Airports Authority of India. It also challenged the April 15, 2025 directive ordering demolition of several university structures in the Haldi area, including a seed processing plant, turmeric warehouse, dryer hall, intake shed and buffer warehouse, as well as a direction restraining the authorities from proceeding with demolition and removal of operational structures.During the hearing, counsel for the university opposed the petition, while the state argued that the land was owned by the govt, initially allotted to the university, and later given to the aviation department for airport expansion. The state also pointed out that the same issue had already been raised and dismissed in a PIL on Jan 8. The court recorded that these facts were not disputed by the petitioner’s counsel.The bench reiterated that the state govt, as owner of the land, was entitled to divert part of it for expansion of Pantnagar airport. The earlier bench held that expansion of the airport was necessary for regional development and that the state, as custodian of public welfare, must decide what served public interest. Endorsing the earlier ruling, the court held that there was no ground for interference and dismissed the petition along with pending applications.