The Delhi high court on Tuesday asked the aviation regulator to file an affidavit on the airworthiness of Airbus A320neo planes in India, in a public interest lawsuit that alleged compromises on aviation safety. The court also asked the operator of the Delhi international airport to submit a list of the “nature and location” of obstacles around Indira Gandhi International Airport. The high court also issued notices to the aviation ministry and directed making Delhi government party to the case. A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C. Hari Shankar was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Yeshwanth Shenoy that pointed to “the acts and omissions of aviation regulator DGCA in compromising aviation safety and consequently the life of flyers and people on ground.” Shenoy argued that DGCA was functioning in “blatant violation” of the Aircraft Act and Rules which entrust it with ensuring aviation safety and sought immediate intervention to prevent accidents. He claimed nearly 100 A320neo aircraft with allegedly faulty engines were operating in India, while DGCA grounded a mere 14. Shenoy also informed the court that there were as many as 365 obstacles around Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, posing a serious threat to local residents and passengers. “There cannot be buildings higher than four storeys... Look at Aerocity now,” the petitioner said. Anjana Gosain appearing for DGCA told the court that safety of passengers and the local population was non-negotiable and that it was not an adversarial litigation. The petitioner claims that on 9 February, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an “emergency airworthiness directive” mentioning possible defects in certain P&W engines. Following this, DGCA imposed certain operational restrictions and grounded three such aircraft, but not the entire fleet. After the induction of Airbus 320neos by Indian airlines in 2016, repetitive defects relating to “distress in combustion chamber” and “oil chip warnings due to wear of No.3 bearing” was found by DGCA during operations, the petition says. “DGCA increased ‘checks’ but did not ground the fleet even when...from March 2016 to September 2017, there have been 69 engine failures each of which threatened the lives of passengers and people on ground... Five more engines failed between 15 February and 12 March,” the petition further reads. Till date, DGCA has grounded 14 A320neos powered by Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines, operated by low-fare airlines IndiGo and GoAir, over faulty engines.