Do not abuse liberal rules for PILs; frivolous petitions wasting precious judicial time: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Thursday cautioned against the misuse of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and said that frivolous petitions cause significant delays in disposing of cases of genuine litigants with legitimate grievances [Rajat Kapoor Advocate v. Union of India & Ors]..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that courts must ensure that people do not abuse the liberal rules pertaining to PILs and waste precious judicial time.“The doctrine of PIL has been developed by Courts through various judgments to address issues of public interest and to aid those persons who have been caused public injury or such persons whose fundamental rights have been infringed and whose grievances have gone unnoticed, unrepresented and unheard. However, it is often seen that frivolous PILs are filed before the Courts which cause significant delays in disposing of cases of genuine litigants with legitimate grievances,” the judgment stated..A PIL was filed in the High Court by an advocate named Rajat Kapoor seeking several directions with respect to mandatory helmets as well as insurance for electric vehicles.Kapoor also sought directions to the authorities to issue guidelines ensuring standardised manufacture of long-lasting batteries which do not catch fire. .After considering the case, the Court noted that relevant provisions of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 are already applicable to the electric vehicles and that the Central government has prescribed standards for manufacture of batteries.The Bench observed that the petitioner has filed the PIL only on the basis two news reports and that the claims as well as allegations made by him remain unsubstantiated.“Such frivolous PILs instead of enabling access to justice, actually hinder it by wasting precious judicial time.”.Advocate Rajat Kapoor appeared in person.The Central government was represented through Advocates Gurdas Khurana and Arnav Kumar.Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) Anuj Aggarwal along with Advocates Ayushi Bansal, Arshya Singh and Aakash Dahiya represented the Delhi government..[Read Judgment]