The Lawyer’s Briefs: 8 PILs that were actually filed in Indian courts

The year is 1979. An experienced lawyer is revealing startling facts about the state of Indian prisons, in front of a stunned Supreme Court bench. The result – a judge (read Bhagwati J.) orders the release of more than 40,000 under-trial prisoners languishing in jails across India. Thus, the concept of Public Interest Litigation was born in India, but no one could have predicted the effect it would have..Fast forward to 2014 and a social activist is in front of an Allahabad High Court bench, getting a sound telling-off. Nutan “Tsunami” Thakur was accused by the court of publicity mongering, among other things. The court revealed that she had filed over 140 PILs, 86 of which were in-person. Apart from imposing costs, the court also ordered that Rs. 25,000 be deposited every time she files a PIL in the future..The fact that “publicity interest litigation” is now considered a hackneyed phrase paints a picture of what the concept of the PIL has become. Lawyers and activists alike have been guilty of putting little thought into the substance of their petitions. What results is an abuse of the locus to appear before the court and an utter waste of the already overburdened judges’ precious time. Some judges like former CJI RM Lodha have cracked down on this practice by ruthlessly imposing high costs. However, high costs don’t seem to be the panacea to this disease..In 2005, the 192nd Law Commission recommended the introduction of a central legislation to curb the menace of trigger-happy lawyers filing frivolous petitions. Unfortunately, the Vexatious Litigation (Prevention) Bill never saw the light of the day. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are the only states where a Vexatious Litigation (Prevention) Bill is in place..The Supreme Court has also tried to address the issue on multiple occasions. In 2010, a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and MK Sharma laid down a 10-point guideline to “preserve the purity and sanctity of PILs”..Despite these efforts, PILs are still filed on the most inane grounds and very often with ulterior motives. Here are 8 such instances of ridiculously vexatious litigation.. 30,000 runs and still under the sea.In 2013, India’s favourite cricketing son Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the highest civilian honour. As millions of people lauded the maestro, three PILs were filed in different high courts..In the Allahabad High Court, the main ground for filing the PIL was that there were more deserving persons from the world of sports, such as Vishwanathan Anand and Milkha Singh..A similar PIL was filed in the Patna High Court by the legendary Sudhir Kumar Ojha, contending that Dhyan Chand was a better candidate..The PIL in the Madras High Court was based on technicalities. It was contended that Tendulkar, being a sportsman was not eligible for the award, as per a Presidential notification. However, the petitioner, Kanagasabai, failed to consider that there was a subsequent amendment to the notification, which made it open to excellence in all fields. All three PILs were dismissed without costs.. Moral Police, arrest these men (and women).Sudhir Kumar Ojha, (yes, that man again) self-proclaimed protector of Indian values, has a penchant for filing PILs against celebrities..On a crusade to end obscenity in Bollywood movies, the lawyer from Muzzafarpur has appeared in various courts to get songs and movies banned. To name a few, the kiss scene in Dhoom 2, because it was obscene and the Radha song from Student of the Year because it depicted Lord Krishna’s consort in bad light by describing her as “sexy”. He also filed PILs against Bipasha Basu, Vidya Balan and Sonakshi Sinha for posing in their underwear for magazine covers..Nutan Thakur (yes, that woman again) is no stranger to this territory either. In 2010, she filed PILs to remove the songs Sheila Ki Jawaani and Munni Badnam Hui from their respective movies. The grounds? That many girls from villages are named Sheila and Munni and would get teased as a result.. Consti for Kids.Agriculturist Hem Raj Singh Chaudhary filed a PIL in the Supreme Court to introduce the Indian Constitution in its entirety as part of the syllabus in primary classes..If that wasn’t enough, he claimed India “will become Paris” if this is done. Justice Balakrishnan duly dismissed it.. What’s in a (father’s) name?.In November 2005, an independent politician filed a PIL in the Bombay high court seeking Priya Dutt’s disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP because she was still using her father’s last name despite being married..The court dismissed it and imposed costs of Rs. 25,000.. Call of Duty: Daft Ops.A Juhu businessman was understandably distraught after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai..However, the way he chose to vent his frustration was far from justified. He filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court against four senior Mumbai police officials on the grounds that they were unable to prevent the attacks..Perhaps a combination of the petitioner’s wealth and the ludicrousness of his claim forced the court to impose costs of a whopping 5 lakh rupees.. Back to the Stone Age.Lawyer Aravinder Kumar Jha approached the Supreme Court in 2010, wanting paper currency to be abolished, without suggesting an alternative..An annoyed Chief Justice asked him whether he would then pay his vegetable vendor through an e-transaction.. Simon, go back (and take your laws with you).Satpal Kagra came before the Supreme Court demanding that all colonial laws be abolished, without exception..Only those laws passed by Indian Parliament should survive. The court responded by asking how they would adjudicate on criminal cases if the IPC is abolished.. [Impose costs here].This list would not be complete without the man himself, ML Sharma..Often the object of much ridicule, Sharma, filed a habeas corpus petition seeking information from the Central Government on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s life status..Justice Lodha imposed costs of Rs. 25,000 on Sharma, deeming it a “hopeless and frivolous petition”..The same judge had earlier imposed costs on Sharma for demanding the quashing of the AIR India Hotels sale.