Concentrate on profession: Supreme Court refuses to entertain 25 PILs filed by one lawyer

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain 25 public interest litigation petitions (PILs) filed by a single petitioner, advocate Sachin Gupta. .A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi asked the petitioner to concentrate on his legal practice instead of filing PILs."Concentrate on the profession. When the time is correct we will entertain the cases as well. But first try to sensitise and deal with issues," CJI Kant remarked.The petitioner sought liberty to withdraw the petitions which was then allowed by the Bench. "PIL is purportedly in public interest. Not entertained," the Court said while permitting the petitioner to withdraw the petitions. .The petitions before the Court included those with prayers for:- A policy to develop a common link language in India with words from all languages and dialects prevalent in the country;- A policy for a legal awareness show on television;- A policy on use of chemicals in soaps, to allow only chemicals that kill harmful bacteria and not bacteria essential for skin health;- A policy for a pan-India food/ FSSAI registration drive;- A policy for upliftment of disadvantaged groups like beggars, child, transgender persons, women;- A policy on social media use by government officials, including the judiciary;- A policy on gun use;- Guidelines for consecutive and concurrent sentences in criminal cases;- A policy to declare festival holidays as "Public Welfare date" for the benefit of society;- A committee to revise polishing standards for polishing pulses to make polished pulses less harmful for human consumption;- A policy for the invention and promotion of smartphones catered to specific age groups - child, adolescent and adult;- A policy for animal welfare which includes, but is not limited to, lab grown meat, promotion of alternative of leather, curb bone china crockery, food collection for animals from shops, stalls etc;- Legal education reform, including to make public interest matters a focus in LLB programmes, increase law school internships, etc;- Recriminalising adultery, along with a provision of sex agreement;- A policy on the symbol of national identity, with suggestions to make certain changes to the national anthem, the starting of a new calendar 'Bharat Samvat', a new symbol of democracy, and a national symbol that includes the "symbol of justice;- A law regulating advertisements on government schemes and for the use of news channels to impart awareness about government schemes or policies;- A policy on the use of mandatory screen protector in TV, computer, Laptop etc;- A policy on sign board for shops specially food shops for disclosing name of owners and staff and their eatery habits;- A policy for population control;- A committee for considering the feasibility of a "two-alliance system" in India. .The Court had dismissed four other PILs by the same lawyer last month, while sharply criticising the casual manner in which some were drafted. These petitions were filed on subjects ranging from alcohol regulation and land registration to whether onions and garlic carry negative (tamasic) energy.During the March 26 hearing, CJI Kant had commented, "Aadhi raat ko yeh sab petition draft karte ho kya? (Do you draft these petitions at midnight?)"The Bench, at the time, had also criticised those who seem to be running "PIL shops", referring to the large number of frivolous PILs that the Court has had to deal with.