The Orissa High Court has recently dismissed a PIL saying it was mischievous and filed with oblique motives. The division bench of Justice Jaswant Singh and Justice S.K. Panigrahi passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Ashirbad Pattnaik and others.
The petition has been filed by petitioners purportedly in the nature of a PIL seeking reliefs against the State and some private parties alleging illegal mining and transportation of minerals etc. resulting in loss of public exchequer.
The Court observed that without going into the merits of the matter, it felt the procedural improprieties resorted to by the petitioners herein and their counsel persuade us to believe that there is something much more than which meets the eye.
The Court found from the perusal of the file attached that the same advocate had filed a previous petition in the form of a PIL being W.P. (C) 16719 of 2020 with a different set of petitioners with similar content and seeking identical relief sought herein.
The Court found further from the perusal of the file of the earlier similar PIL attached herewith that the allegation/grievance raised in both the petitions are similar in substance.
The Court noted that the advocate in both the petitions is the same i.e. one Sambit Samal. What has changed is that the earlier set of petitioners have merely been replaced by another set of petitioners and some minor alterations have been made in the pleadings in the subsequent/instant petition.
The Court has to be satisfied about the credentials of the applicant; prima facie correctness or nature of information given by him and the information furnished being not vague and indefinite. But in the case, the court finds it to be a mischievous petition seeking to assail with oblique motives which prevents us from invoking our discretionary writ jurisdiction.
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The Court further observed that, no declaration has been made so as to validate the bona fide of the petitioners or to demonstrate in what manner they have been said to be public spirited persons except for the fact that they are purportedly residents of Keonjhar. It also reveals that in order to pay lip service to the rules a representation has been made in order to facilitate the filing of the petition.
The Court held that the petition has not been filed in the form appended to the Orissa High Court Public Interest Litigation Rules, 2010 wherein Rule 6 clearly stipulates that “Public Interest Litigation under Article 226 of the Constitution of India shall be in the form appended here to”. In gross contravention to the mandatory requirements of the form, the petitioners have deliberately suppressed that a previous Petition (PIL) was filed by the same Advocate in question on the very same issue WP(C) PIL No16719 of 2020 and the same was withdrawn by the order dated July 21, 2020.
“The petitioners have not annexed any document in order to validate either their credentials or to demonstrate that they are public spirited persons, except for a bald pleading to that effect. Even the addresses of most of the petitioners are incomplete in contravention to Rule 5 of the Orissa High Court Public Interest Litigation Rules, 2010. A bare perusal of Rule 5 of the extant rules demonstrates that an obligation is cast upon the court itself to verify and satisfy itself as to the bona fide of not only the cause in question but also the parties who bring such a cause to the court,”
-the Court said while dismissing the petition.
However, keeping in view the early stages of his career, the court refrain from commenting upon his conduct except to advise him to be careful in future and not be a party to such a litigation initiated by unscrupulous litigants.
“The Registry is also directed to strictly comply with the rules as indicated hereinabove while dealing with Public Interest Litigations so as to prevent valuable judicial time from being wasted and prevent certain unscrupulous elements from weaponizing petitions in courts of law. We feel constrained to direct the petitioners to deposit cost of Rs 5,000 each (totalling Rs 50,000) before the Orissa High Court Bar Association Advocates Welfare Fund positively within four weeks from today, failing which Collector, Keonjhar shall proceed to recover the same as arrears of land revenue and ensure the deposit of the recovered amount as stated hereinabove,”
-the court ordered.