New Delhi April 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed serious concern over the manner in which Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was being "brazenly mis-utilised" by persons with a personal political and business agenda.
Observing that PIL has "developed as a powerful tool to espouse the cause of the marginalised and oppressed" Chief Justice Dipak Misra Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said it was being "brazenly mis-utilised by persons with a personal agenda" and to settle business and political rivalries.
"The misuse of PIL is a serious matter of concern for the judicial process " the court said. "Both this court and the High Courts are flooded with litigation and are burdened by arrears.
"Frivolous or motivated petitions ostensibly invoking the public interest " the court said "detract from the time and attention which courts must devote to genuine causes.
"Business rivalries have to be resolved in a competitive market for goods and services. Political rivalries have to be resolved in the great hall of democracy when the electorate votes its representatives in and out of office " the judges said.
The time and space of court should not be utilized to settle "extra-judicial scores" the judges said.
The court said taking a dim view over the manner in which PIL route was taken for seeking a SIT probe into the death of Judge B.H. Loya in 2014 at Nagpur. He was heading the trial court that was holding a trial in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh shootout.
Holding that PILs were a powerful instrument to preserve the rule of law the court said: "Yet over time it has been realised that this jurisdiction is capable of being and has been brazenly mis-utilised by persons with a personal agenda."
Speaking for the bench Justice Chandrachud said: "At one end of that spectrum are those cases where PILs are motivated by a desire to seek publicity."
The motivated petitions "pose a grave danger to the credibility of the judicial process" the judges said.
--IANS
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