HYDERABAD: Taking a serious note of misuse of public interest litigations for selfish gains by certain individuals, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court has dismissed a PIL filed by B Janaka Sankar against Ultra Tech cement factory of Anantapur district.
It said people were using the PIL as tool for blackmail and the courts as a platform for their selfish gains. In the present case, the petitioner who stays in Kurnool has filed the PIL case stating that the local people were facing difficulty due to the factory in Anantapur district, it remarked.
On an earlier occasion, the bench expressed doubts on the petitioner’s attitude and directed him to furnish Rs 1 lakh as fixed deposit to prove his bonafide. When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, petitioner’s counsel said there was no response from the petitioner.
The bench said that it has understood the petitioner’s intention in filing the PIL case as he has suppressed some facts relating to the issue, hence directed him to furnish the said deposit to prove his bonafide. In the recent past PILs have been turned into “publicity interest litigations” and for selfish gains, the bench remarked and dismissed the PIL.