SupremeToday Landscape Ad
Back
Next
Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation
Listen Audio Icon Pause Audio Icon
judgment-img



IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
D.N. Patel, Jyoti Singh, JJ.
Shrikant Prasad - Appellant
Versus
South Delhi Municipal Corporation - Respondent
W.P.(C) 981 of 2020 & CM Appls. 3962 of 2020 and 23214 of 2021
Decided On : 18-08-2021




The court emphasized the necessity of exhausting alternative remedies before filing a Public Interest Litigation, particularly regarding information requests under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Headnote:(A) Right to Information Act, 2005 - Public Interest Litigation - The petitioner seeks various civic amenities and information regarding fund utilization by local authorities. Court finds the petitioner has alternative remedies under the RTI Act and has not approached concerned authorities. Misjoinder of reliefs is noted. (Paras 3, 4)

(B) Public Interest Litigation - Appropriateness of the petition - The court emphasizes that issues should initially be brought to the attention of pertinent authorities before court intervention is sought. (Paras 4, 5)

Facts of the case:
The petitioner, a resident of Gautampuri, seeks directions for amenities such as potable water, sewage, park maintenance, educational initiatives, and transparency in fund utilization.

Findings of Court:
The petition was dismissed as the petitioner failed to approach relevant authorities and alternative remedies were available.

Issues: The main questions were the appropriateness of using PIL for information requests and the necessity of prior representation to concerned authorities.

Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that proper procedures must be followed before seeking relief through a PIL, noting the need for alternative recourse and proper representational efforts.

Result: Petition dismissed.

Table of Content
1. petitioner seeks various public amenities. (Para 1 , 2)
2. public interest litigation not appropriate for information requests. (Para 3 , 4)
3. court dismisses petition but allows for future representations. (Para 5 , 6 , 7)

JUDGMENT

D.N. Patel, Chief Justice (Oral)

Proceedings have been conducted through video conferencing.

1. Present Public Interest Litigation has been filed seeking the following reliefs:

    "1. The Respondent no 2 should be given a order so that they start providing portable water to all household where there is high scarcity of water in area at earliest so that their time of high importance which they have to spend in having water should be saved and people do not roam street to street in search of water.

    2. Respondent no 1 should be given an order without any delay so that the sewer line should be started in the entire area for immediate use so that women, children, old and young people can get rid of the problem of open defecation so that they do not have to wait for the night, which in today's age is very much a matter of household and spoils the image of our country.

    3. The Horticulture department of Respondent no 1 should be ordered to remove illegal possession in all the parks in this area as soon as possible so as plantation of trees, flowers, etc. and keep at least one gardener to take care of them. So that the children here have the opportunity to live their childhood and get a clean and tidy environment.

    4. Respondent no.5 should be ordered that all the roads in this area which are in dilapidated should be rebuilt and repaired with good material as soon as possible and the water coming from the drains across the pits should be curved by making curbs in the sides so that people can walk on the roads. And at some distance, should be installed to get rid of the problem of littering in the road. By doing this, all people should have a jug to meet their everyday needs. We can go on foot to another place.

    5. The Major class of this area belongs to uneducated people they do not know the values of education and left their children as they are, so the Respondent 4 should be ordered to constitute a board of few officers to arrange awareness programme related to value of education and reserve seats in all the private schools of Delhi for children of all weaker sections of this area though this provision is in right to education act 2009 so that they can be admitted in private schools in a very easy manner without any hesitation and difficulty. Which is the fundamental right of all these children under Article 21a and the right to education? And his father and mother are also expected to get happiness in old age if they will get a good education.

    6) Under the Right to Information Act 2005, no information has been given till date, it seems to be a problem in which all the department officials of Respondent no 1, Respondent no 2, Respondent no 4, Respondent no 5 found who are not allowing the funds of this area to reach the people here, the common man's right to justice should be ensured and a special investigation team of CBI should be formed and the scams of funds that have come to this area for so many years to be known and action must be taken as per the Appropriate sections of various acts in case they found with any misappropriation of funds.

    7) The Proposals for any development work from Year 2000 to 2019 which if have been given by any respective M.P/M.L.A as well as the amount of M.L.A/M.P Fund allocated and the work done by the concern M.L.A or M.P in its name and the list of expenses should be brought before the court so that public can get to know how much amount is misappropriated by the concern officials i.e. Respondent no 4 along with the concern office holding ministers in their respective year as in memo of parties and if any false or frivolous information will be given in it, then the case of giving false evidence u/s 191 of IPG against them should be tried.

    8) Respondent no 4

Click Here to Read the rest of this document
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
SupremeToday Portrait Ad
supreme today icon
logo-black

An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers

Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance

qr

Scan Me!

India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!

For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :

whatsapp-icon Back to top