5 months ago
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The Madras High Court connected Tuesday directed the Airports Authority India (AAI) to spot earlier the Ministry of Civil Aviation the contented arsenic to whether cinema halls could beryllium permitted either wrong the zones secured by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) oregon adjacent extracurricular those zones wrong airdrome complexes successful the country.
Justice M. Dhandapani expected the Ministry to instrumentality a argumentation determination connected the contented and ordered that the five-screen PVR INOX multiplex, established astatine the Aerohub (a commercialized abstraction attached to the multi-level car parking analyzable successful the unsecured portion of the Chennai airport) could proceed to relation till then.
If the Ministry decides to licence the cinema halls successful the unsecured zones of airdrome complexes, the AAI was directed to participate into a lease statement with PVR INOX, since the declaration betwixt the latter’s archetypal lessor Meenambakkam Realty Private Limited and the AAI was terminated. If the Ministry decides not to licence cinema halls adjacent successful the unsecured zones of airdrome complexes, past PVR INOX would beryllium astatine liberty to proceed against its archetypal lessor, the justice said, and directed the High Court Registry to people a transcript of his bid to the Ministry for information.
The orders were passed aft proceeding elder counsel P.S. Raman and Satish Parasaran for PVR INOX and Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan, assisted by AAI lasting counsel Ramaswamy Meyyappan. The Ministry was not a enactment to the litigation.
History of the litigation
The AAI had invited tenders successful 2017 for improvement of Aerohub astatine the Chennai airport. Olympia Techpark (Chennai) Private Limited turned retired to beryllium palmy bidder, and it floated a peculiar intent conveyance titled Meenambakkam Realty, which successful crook entered into a improvement statement with AAI successful 2018 to develop, build, operate, and support the installation for a play of 15 years.
Thereafter, each indispensable clearances were obtained, and Aerohub was constructed with the five-screen multiplex. PVR INOX entered into a sub-licencing statement with Meenambakkam Realty successful November 2022 for operating the multiplex and commenced screening movies from February 1, 2023. The sub-licencing tenure betwixt them was for a play of 13.5 years.
However, connected July 21, 2023, the AAI wrote a missive to Meenambakkam Realty stating it had been decided to adjacent the multiplex since moving of cinema halls was not a permissible enactment wrong an airdrome analyzable arsenic per the provisions of the AAI Act of 1994. The missive was signed by Joint General Manager (Commercial) M. Selvanayagam connected behalf of the Airport Director.
After astir 2 years, Meenambakkam Realty conveyed to PVR INOX connected May 15, 2025 that its 2018 improvement statement with AAI had been terminated prematurely, and the AAI had decided to support the full 2,47,202-sq.ft Aerohub, constructed connected 4.5 acres, connected its own. PVR INOX moved the Madras High Court and obtained an interim bid of presumption quo. Subsequently, the lawsuit was heard astatine magnitude and the tribunal pronounced its orders connected Tuesday.
