"Professional PIL shops must be locked down till the country comes out of COVID-19 tragedy", Solicitor General Tushar Mehta

The Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, while making his submissions before the Supreme Court today said that at a time like this when India is facing a a pandemic, the "Professional PIL shops" must be "locked down"..This remark came by the SG as a response to the number of PILs listed before the Supreme Court today touching upon various issues and aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftereffects of the ensuing lockdown imposed..While some concerned the plight of the migrant workers who were left stranded after the lockdown was imposed, some made recommendations regarding how the Government agencies can enhance the facilities in order to combat the issue of growing numbers of COVID-19 patients..SG Mehta assisted the Apex Court in all the matters which were taken up via video conferencing and submitted that the government has acted proactively and taken timely steps so as to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus to a great extent. The spread of the contagion has been effectively limited to a minimum, SG Mehta submitted..The government is also working hard to mitigate the problems faced by the public, particularly the poor in the wake of the 21-day lockdown imposed by the government, Mehta had submitted. In light of this, he said that for now when the country is grappling with an unprecedented tragedy such as the Corona virus pandemic, filing of PILs by individuals such as Harsh Mander and Swami Agnivesh is proving detrimental to the country..Mehta objected to PILs filed by these petitioners in particular on the grounds that filing of PILs from the comfort of their homes without having information of the ground reality is not "public service". .Mehta argued that till the country and the world comes out of this unprecedented tragedy such “professional PIL shops” must be locked down as none of them have any concern about the poor and needy or thousands of patients fighting this deadly disease.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.He further said that the forum of the Supreme Court ought not be used for "cheap publicity" but instead the public spirited persons should join hands with the government in alleviating the issues faced by the poor and the needy at a time like this..All the Central and State government officials are working on "war footing", Mehta told the Court and said that he hopes that the Courts would be circumspect in entertaining such PILs given that it is not required for officials to spare "crucial working hours in preparing replies" to be filed before the Court at a time he we're faced with a never before seen crisis.