The Madras High Court has recently dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and imposed a cost of Rs 15,000 on the petitioner and restrained him from filing public interest litigation for two years.
The PIL has been filed by one Selvakumar seeking direction to the respondent authorities to consider the representation of the petitioner dated 01.07.2021 and remove the encroachments made on the water bodies by Tamil Nadu Brick Industries and private respondent in Nolambur Village.
Kuberan, the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu Brick Industries and private respondent, submitted that the petitioner has suppressed material facts from the court. Earlier, the petitioner had approached the National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone, Chennai and filed an Original Application in regard to the same issue by impleading the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries as land owner.
The private respondent before the Court is the land developer pursuant to the agreement entered with the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries. In the said application, an undertaking was given by the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries not to use any part of the waterbody and, accordingly, the Original Application was disposed of by the National Green Tribunal by the order dated 28.08.2020.
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The fact aforesaid was suppressed while filing the PIL with the same prayer, as was made before the National Green Tribunal regarding the same land. Thus, a prayer is made to dismiss the PIL with costs.
R. Sankarasubbu, the counsel for the petitioner, contended that the copy of the typed set of papers was served by the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries only on January 11, 2022 and he could not seek instructions from his client because of the intervening Pongal holidays. Thus, a prayer is made to allow the petitioner to approach the National Green Tribunal to report that the undertaking furnished by the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries has been violated.
The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice P.D.Audikesavalu after considering the rival submissions found that the petition has been filed by the petitioner suppressing material facts about the earlier litigation against the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries regarding the same land, as referred to in the PIL.
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Before the National Green Tribunal, the Tamil Nadu Brick Industries has submitted an undertaking not to use any part of the waterbody. The fact aforesaid has been suppressed by the petitioner while filing the present PIL.
“The petitioner has not filed the present public interest litigation with clean hands. Rather, he has suppressed the relevant facts from the Court,”
-observed the Bench.
Therefore the High Court dismissed the PIL on the ground of suppression of material facts, as the very same subject matter was adjudicated by the National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone, Chennai and not a whisper about it has been made in the PIL. Further the Court held that the petition is not maintainable, as the petitioner cannot approach two different forums to resolve the same issue.
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“The writ petition is dismissed with costs assessed at Rs 15,000 to be deposited by the petitioner with the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority within a month from today and further, considering the conduct of the petitioner in suppressing material facts, the petitioner is restrained from filing public interest litigation for a period of two years,”
-the order reads.