KOCHI: It seems the recent trend of filing publicity-oriented public interest litigations (PILs) is posing a headache for the courts in the state. There has been a whopping increase in the number of such PILs coming up before the Kerala High Court in recent times. Unfortunately, such PILs are a hindrance to the filing of genuine PILs as well.
According to official information from the Kerala High Court, as many as 201 PILs were filed before the Kerala High Court till September 2010. Out of these, 23 PILs were filed in the month of August while 16 PILs were filed in September.
It has been noticed that an increasing number of the socalled public activists has been filing PILs these days. Unfortunately many of them are 'Publicity Interest Litigations.' Some of these litigations have been dismissed with cost, ie. the applicant has to submit a certain cost for legal services.
According to the available official data, as many as 11 public interest litigation cases have been dismissed in the admission stage itself till September 2010. Out of these, two PILs were dismissed with cost. It has been pointed out that sometimes PILs are submitted without proper homework being done or with an ulterior motive to blackmail somebody.
"Usually PILs are admitted or dismissed depending on the merit of the litigation. The Supreme Court, in a judgment, has mentioned how and why a PIL should be filed. When a PIL comes up before the High Court, the court checks whether it complies with the directions given by the Supreme Court," says advocate D B Binu of the Kerala RTI Federation.
However, at times some genuine PILs are also being dismissed owing to some reasons. Recently, a PIL filed by activist Khalid Mundappilly on the pathetic condition of roads was dismissed by the court.
Earlier, there had been a move on the part of the state government to name activist Nawab Rajendran as a litigant, so that he would not be able to file a litigation before the court without permission from the district collector. However, the move failed. The court said that most of the PILs filed by Rajendran were of public interest.