A lawyer, who was earlier reprimanded by the Supreme Court for filing “frivolous and baseless” public interest litigations, on Thursday sought permission to withdraw 17 of the 47 PILs he had filed, stating that he would first approach the concerned authorities.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Panchol allowed advocate Sachin Gupta to withdraw the petitions.
According to a PTI report, appearing in person, Gupta informed the court that he wished to withdraw the 17 PILs as they came up for hearing.
“I am withdrawing the petitions. I will approach the authorities,” he said.
Earlier, on April 10, when 25 PILs filed by him were listed, the Supreme Court had advised him to approach the relevant authorities instead of directly moving the court, noting that the petitions could be considered at an appropriate stage if necessary.
The court had then permitted him to withdraw those 25 PILs.
On March 9, the apex court had strongly criticised five of his PILs, terming them “frivolous”, including one seeking a scientific study on whether onion and garlic contain “tamasic” (negative) energy.
“‘Aadhi raat ko yeh sab petition draft karte ho kya? (Do you draft all these petitions in the middle of the night?)’” the Chief Justice had remarked, calling the pleas “vague, frivolous and baseless”.
The bench had also dismissed four other petitions filed by Gupta, including one seeking regulation of allegedly harmful content in alcohol and tobacco products.
(With inputs from PTI)