The Punjab and Haryana High Court has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) of 2019, which alleged that coaching institutes in Ludhiana and Jalandhar were not adhering to Punjab Building Bye Laws and fire safety norms.
The PIL was filed by the Council of Engineers and others against the State of Punjab and other respondents.
In response to the PIL, the State of Punjab filed a reply in 2023, stating that instructions had been issued to ensure adherence to safety and municipal norms.
The State informed the Court that all commissioners of municipal corporations and regional deputy directors of urban local bodies had been directed to enforce the norms.
Given that the PIL had been pending since 2019, the counsel for the petitioners sought to withdraw the petition with liberty to file a fresh petition if a new cause of action arose.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sudhir Singh allowed the withdrawal and dismissed the PIL, granting liberty to the petitioners to file a new petition in the future.