The Supreme Court on Tuesday while dismissing a petition seeking implementation of MHA’s March 29 notification against eviction of tenants remarked “in absence of work, lawyers keep on filing PILs with regard to COVID 19.”
The bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice BR Gavai was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak and Abhijeet Kumar Pandey, a Final Year Law student of Campus Law Centre, Delhi University who said that despite the MHA order of 29th March, not to demand rent from students and labourers for a period of one month and further not to force tenant to vacate premises during this period, many instances have been reported where landlords are forcing tenant students to pay full rent failing which they are being evicted from the premises and petitioner himself is a witness to this situation.
The Bench however said that “the Court cannot implement orders of the government. A helpline number is available to monitor the situation. Hence the bench is not entertaining the petition.”
The bench also declined to hear a similar petition seeking creation of an Emergency Financial Fund for Advocates amid COVID 19 lockdown.
The bench said that it would not entertain a petition filed by advocates as Petitioner in person and warned the petitioner of imposing heavy costs.
-India Legal Bureau