Important point
Public interest litigation is a weapon which has to be used with great care and circumspection and judiciary has to be extremely careful to see that behind beautiful veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest or publicity seeking was not lurking.

Headnote:Constitution of India—Article 226 —Public Interest Litigation Writ—Appointment of appellant as Auction Recorder of Market Committee was set aside in a writ filed by respondent No. 4 as public interest litigation on ground that appellant had been convicted by Court under Section 61 of Punjab Excise Act—Appeal—Scope of entertaining such petition and locus standi of petitioner—Court has to be extremely careful to see that under the guise of redressing a public grievance, it does not encroach upon sphere reserved to the Executive and Legislature—Court must maintain social balance by interfering where necessary for sake of justice and refuse to interfere where it was against social interest and public good—Court has to be careful to see that behind veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest and/or publicity seeking was not lurking—In service matters public interest litigation could not be filed—Impugned order was indefensible and was liable to be set aside.
       Held : The scope of entertaining a petition styled as a public interest litigation, locus standi of the petitioner particularly in matters involving service of an employee has been examined by this court in various cases. The Court has to be satisfied about (a) the credentials of the applicant; (b) the prima facie correctness or nature of information given by him; (c) the information being not vague and indefinite. The information should show gravity and seriousness involved. Court has to strike balance between two conflicting interests; (i) nobody should be allowed to indulge in wild and reckless allegations besmirching the character of others; and (ii) avoidance of public mischief and to avoid mischievous petitions seeking to assail, for oblique motives, justifiable executive actions. In such case, however, the Court cannot afford to be liberal. It has to be extremely careful to see that under the guise of redressal a public grievance, it does not encroach upon the sphere reserved by the Constitution to the Executive and the Legislature. The Court has to act ruthlessly while dealing with imposters and busy bodies or meddlesome interlopers impersonating as public-spirited holy men. They masquerade as crusaders of justice. They pretend to act in the name of Pro Bono Publico, though they have no interest of the public or even of their own to protect. (Para 6)
       Public interest litigation is a weapon which has to be used with great care and circumspection and the judiciary has to be extremely careful to see that behind the beautiful veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest and/or publicity seeking is not lurking. It is to be used as an effective weapon in the armory of law for delivering social justice to the citizens. The attractive brand name of public interest litigation should not be allowed to be used for suspicious products of mischief. It should be aimed at redressal of genuine public wrong or public injury and not publicity oriented or founded on personal vendetta. As indicated above, Court must be careful to see that a body of persons or member of public, who approaches the court is acting bona fide and not for personal gain or private motive or political motivation or other oblique consideration. The Court must not allow its process to be abused for oblique considerations by masked phantoms who monitor at times from behind. Some persons with vested interest indulge in the pastime of meddling with judicial process either by force of habit or from improper motives and try to bargain for a good deal as well to enrich themselves. Often they are actuated by a desire to win notoriety or cheap popularity. The petitions of such busy bodies deserve to be thrown out by rejection at the threshold, and in appropriate cases with exemplary costs. (Para 11)
       When a particular person is the object and target of a petition styled as PIL, the court has to be careful to see whether the attack in the guise of public interest is really intended to unleash a private vendetta, personal grouse or some other mala fide object. Since in service matters public interest litigation cannot be filed there is no scope for taking action for contempt, particularly, when the petition is itself not maintainable. In any event, by order dated 15.4.2002 this Court had stayed operation of the High Court’s order. Judged in the above said background the High Court was not justified in entertaining the Writ Petition. The judgment of the High Court is indefensible and is therefore set aside. (Paras 13 and 14)

Judgment

Arijit Pasayat, J.—By the impugned judgment a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that the appointment of the appellant as Auction Recorder of the Market Committee, Patran was invalid and illegal. The said order came to be passed on the basis of a Writ Petition filed by respondent No. 4. It is to be noted that the said petition was styled as a Public Interest Litigation (in short ‘PIL’).

2. A brief reference to the factual aspect would be necessary.

3. Appellant was appointed as Auction Recorder on 19.11.1986. Appointment of the appellant was challenged by one Ashok Kumar, clerk of the Market Committee by filing a complaint before the competent authority alleging that the appellant having been convicted under Section 61(1)(a) of Punjab Excise Act in 1974 for alleged commission of offence on 21.5.1973 and was therefore ineligible for being considered for appointment. The complaint was looked into by the Market Committee and by order dated 22nd May, 1989 it was held that the appointment was not contrary to law. The Standing Counsel of the Committee categorically opined that since no moral turpitude of any kind was involved, there was no ineligibility attached to the appellant and his appointment was in accordance with law. For the aforesaid purpose reliance was placed on a decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of Narain Singh v. N.S Chima (1997 SLWR 448). On 5.9.1989 appellant’s services were regularized under the Punjab Market Committees (Class III) Rules, 1989 which came to be operative after appellant was appointed. Prior to that no specific Rules were there. A Civil Writ Petition No. 3451 of 1989 was filed by one Chandra Bhan before Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the direct appointment of the appellant. During pendency of the said Writ Petition Sukhjinder Singh filed a complaint before the Administrator, Market Committee questioning appellant’s appointment. Notice was issued by the Administrator to the appellant, who filed his reply. A revision in terms of Section 42 of the Punjab and Haryana Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961 (in short the ‘Markets Act’) was filed before the Special Secretary to the Government of Punjab, Development of Agriculture who passed orders to the effect that Administrator should look into the matter and take a decision as to whether action against the appellant was called for. While Writ Petition No. 3451 of 1989 was pending, Civil Writ Petition No. 6180 of 2000 was filed by the respondent No. 4 challenging appointment of the appellant and as noted above the petition was stated to be one in public interest. Counter Affidavit was filed by the Punjab Mandi Board and the Market Committee taking the stand that since conviction of the appellant did not involve any moral turpitude the appointment was in accordance with law. Appellant also filed counter affidavit before the Market Committee questioning locus standi of the Writ Petitioner to challenge his appointment. It was pointed out that no public interest involved and because of political and personal rivalry the petition had been filed. The High Court by the impugned order held that since the appellant had been convicted by a Court of competent jurisdiction under Section 61 of the Punjab Excise Act, his appointment was not according to rules. Therefore his appointment was set aside and the Punjab Mandi Board and the Market Committee were directed to start fresh process of selection for filling up of the post.

4. In support of the appeal, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that Writ Petition filed by the writ petitioner (respondent No. 4) was nothing but a sheer abuse of process of court. It was by no stretch of imagination Public Interest Litigation and it was filed because of personal and political rivalry and ought to have been dismissed by the High Court. The assertion that appellant and respondent No. 4 were pitted against each other in several elections has not been denied. E

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2005 Supreme(SC) 826

Important pointPublic interest litigation is a weapon which has to be used with great care and ­circumspection and judiciary has to be ­extremely careful to see that behind beautiful veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest or publicity seeking was not lurking.

Cases Referred (5)

Important point
Public interest litigation is a weapon which has to be used with great care and circumspection and judiciary has to be extremely careful to see that behind beautiful veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest or publicity seeking was not lurking.