The Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to the Secretary , Medical Education Department and Director , Medical Education to control the private respondents whereby they cannot demand/take fee/charges from the candidates who do not want to avail Hostel and Transportation facilities.
The public interest litigation has been filed by the petitioner, who is a Law Student and also taking training in the High Court along with his Senior Advocate for advocacy to serve the society for the interest of justice.
Vijay K. Deshmukh, counsel for the petitioner submits that the Public Interest Litigation is filed against the notification issued by the private respondents particularly, against the arbitrary action of the Secretary , Medical Education Department and Director , Medical Education , who have not taken any action against respondents (Medical Colleges) to stop to taking transportation charges/fee and hostel charges/fee imposed to the candidates compulsory, whom are not avail this facility or avail. This compulsory fee/expenses is about/minimum 05.00 Lakh to 05.50 Lakh per candidate.
The counsel for the State submits that the petitioner, who is a law student has no locus to file this public interest litigation. It is further submitted that not a single representation has been made by any of the students, who are studying in medical colleges, if they aggrieved.
Having considered the pleadings and prayers made in the petition and rival submissions of the counsel for the parties and go through the record, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice N.K. Chandravanshi said that it is the duty of the Court to ensure that there is no personal gain, private motive and oblique notice behind filing of PIL. In order to preserve the purity and sanctity of the PIL, the Courts must encourage genuine and bonafide PIL and effectively discourage and curb the PIL filed for extraneous considerations.
On perusal of the pleadings and prayers made in the present public interest litigation and locus of the petitioner, the Bench do not find that the petitioner has any locus to file the PIL and moreover, the prayer and pleadings made in the petition against the private respondents, which are the medical colleges, no candidate had come up before the Court for raising any such grievance, who studying in the said colleges, and the petitioner being a law student come up before this Court.
“The petition itself appears to be vague and sketchy, hence, no relief as prayed for by learned counsel for the petitioner can be granted, any students of that colleges can approach this Court, if they aggrieved, accordingly, this public interest litigation is dismissed”, the order reads.