Turkish firm Celebi explores legal remedies to challenge termination of pacts in India

New Delhi: Turkish aviation services firm Çelebi Hava Servisi AS said on Friday that it will explore all administrative and legal avenues to challenge the unilateral termination of its licence and concession agreements in the country. The move comes after India revoked the security clearance of Celebi's Indian subsidiary, effectively halting its ground handling and cargo operations.

Following the BCAS decision, operations of various entities of Celebi Hava Servisi AS have been suspended. They are Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd (CASI), Celebi GH India Pvt Ltd (CGHI), Celebi Nas Airport Services India Pvt Ltd, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd, and Celebi GS Chennai Pvt Ltd (CGSC). Celebi, operating in the Indian aviation sector for over 15 years and employing over 10,000 people, was offering its services at nine airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.

Key agreements terminated prematurely

In a filing to Turkiye's stock exchange on Friday, Celebi Hava Servisi AS said four concession and licence agreements executed between its company's subsidiaries and the relevant Indian airport authorities have been unilaterally terminated. The concession agreement, valid until 2034, executed between Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has been terminated. Celebi has a 74 per cent stake in the venture.

Also, the licence agreement for ground handling services between Celebi GH India Pvt Ltd (CGHI), which is 61 per cent owned by Celebi, and Ahmedabad International Airport Ltd (AIAL) has been terminated. The pact was valid till 2032, as per the filing. "The Bridge Mounted Equipment Service Agreement valid until 2036 and the Concession Agreement Ground Handling Services valid until 2029, executed between Celebi Nas Airport Services India Pvt Ltd (Celebi Nas), 59 per cent owned by our company and Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL)," has been terminated, the filing said.

Concession agreement between CASI and DIAL terminated

The concession agreement, valid till 2030, executed between CASI and DIAL has also been terminated. CASI is 99.9 per cent owned by Celebi. As per another filing, the concession agreements of CASI with Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) and Kannur International Airport Ltd have been terminated. The agreements were valid until August 31, 2025. Also, the ground handling concession agreement executed between CASI and Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which was valid till 2029, has been terminated.

Emphasising that none of its subsidiaries has ever engaged in any activity that would contravene national security considerations or relevant laws and regulations of India, Celebi Hava Servisi AS said its company "will pursue all available administrative and legal remedies to challenge these unfounded allegations and to seek the annulment of the aforementioned terminations".

With reference to the BCAS order, Celebi Hava Servisi AS, in a filing on Thursday, said its company will pursue all administrative and legal remedies to clarify these unfounded allegations and reverse the imposed orders. CASI was operating at Delhi, Bengaluru, Cochin, Hyderabad, Goa, (GOX) and Kannur airports.

(With inputs from PTI)