Landlord-Tenant matter will not be entertained as Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Refer the Guidelines issued by Hon’ble Supreme Court in this regard.
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
COMPILATION OF GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED FOR ENTERTAINING LETTERS/ PETITIONS RECEIVED IN THIS COURT AS PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION.
(Based on full Court decision dated 1.12.1988 and subsequent modifications).
No petition involving individual/ personal matter shall be entertained as a PIL matter except as indicated hereinafter
Letter-petitions falling under the following categories alone will ordinarily be entertained as Public Interest Litigation:-
(1) Bonded Labour matters.
(2) Neglected Children.
(3) Non-payment of minimum wages to workers and exploitation of casual workers and complaints of violation of Labour Laws (except in individual cases).
(4) Petitions from jails complaining of harassment, for (pre-mature release)” and seeking release after having completed 14 years in jail, death in jail, transfer, release on personal bond, speedy trial as a fundamental right.
“Petitions for premature release, parole etc. are not matters which deserve to be treated as petitions under Article 32 as they can effectively be dealt with by the concerned High Court To save time Registry may simultaneously call for remarks of the Jail Superintendent and ask him to forward the same to High Court. The main petition may be forwarded to the concerned High Court for disposal in accordance with law Even in regard to petitions containing allegations against Jail Authorities there is no reason why it cannot be dealt with by the High Court. But petitions complaining of torture, custody death and the like may be entertained by this Court directly if the allegations are of a serious nature. (Added based on Order dated 19.8.1993 of the then Chief Justice of India).
(5) Petitions against police for refusing to register a case, harassment by police and death in police custody.
(6) Petitions against atrocities on women, in particular harassment of bride, brideburrning, rape, murder, kidnapping, etc.
In such cases where office calls for police report if letter petitioner asks for copy the same may be supplied, only after obtaining permission of the Hon’ble Judge nominated by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for PIL matters.
#Added as per Order dated 29.8.2003 of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India.
(7) Petitions complaining of harassment or torture of villagers by co- villagers or by police from persons belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and economically backward classes.
(8) Petitions pertaining to environmental pollution, disturbance of ecological balance, drugs, food adulteration, maintenance of heritage and culture, antiques, forest and wild life and other matters of public importance.
(9) Petitions from riot-victims.
(10) Family Pension.
All letter-petitions received in the PIL. Cell will first be screened in the Cell and only such petitions as are covered by the above mentioned categories will be placed before a Judge to be nominated by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for directions after which the case will be listed before the Bench concerned.
If a letter-petition is to be lodged, the orders to that effect should be passed by Registrar (Judicial) (or any Registrar nominated by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India), instead of Additional Registrar, or any junior officer.
To begin with only one Hon’ble Judge may be assigned this work and number increased to two or three later depending on the workload.
# Submission Notes be put up before an Hon’ble Judge nominated for such periods as may be decided by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India from time to time.
# As per Order dated 29 8.2003 of the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India.
## If on scrutiny of a letter petition, it is found that the same is not covered under the PIL. guidelines and no public interest is involved, then the same may be lodged only after the approval from the Registrar nominated by the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India.
##It may be worthwhile to require an affidavit to be filed in support of the statements contained in the petition whenever it is not too onerous a requirement ##The matters which can be dealt with by the High Court or any other authority may be sent to them without any comment whatsoever instead of all such matters being heard judicially in this Court only.
##Modified keeping in view the directions dated 29.8.2003 of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India.
Cases falling under the following categories will not be entertained as Public Interest Litigation and these may be returned to the petitioners or filed in the PIL Cell, as the case may be:-
(1) Landlord-Tenant matters.
(2) Service matter and those pertaining to Pension and Gratuity.
(3) Complaints against Central/State Government Departments and Local Bodies except those relating to item Nos. (1) to (10) above.
(4) Admission to medical and other educational institution.
(5) Petitions for early hearing of cases pending in High Courts and Subordinate Courts. In regard to the petitions concerning maintenance of wife, children and parents, the petitioners may be asked to file a Petition under Section 125 of Cr. P.C. Or a Suit in the Court of competent jurisdiction and for that purpose to approach the nearest Legal Aid Committee for legal aid and advice.
Note.- There are certain laws to deal with the frivolous litigations. Under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, Section 35-A provides for payment of costs by way of compensation in respect of false or vexatious claims or defences. Also, under Section 250 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, the Court is empowered to direct payment of compensation to the accused, if the Court considers that there is no reasonable ground for making the accusation. Further, as per Section 209 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, whoever fraudulently or dishonestly, or with intent to injure or annoy any person, makes in a Court of Justice any claim which he knows to be false, is liable to be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and shall also be liable to fine The Hon’ble Supreme Court and High Courts have also issued certain directions from time to time through their orders/judgements to keep a check on frivolous litigation/false claims The Courts are also concerned that its process are not abused by any persons, organisations and institutions by filing frivolous petitions in the name of PÍLs. Further, Public-interest litigation is a rule of declared law by the Courts of record. However, the person (or entity) filing the petition must prove to the satisfaction of the Court that the petition serves the public interest and is not a frivolous lawsuit brought for monetary gain
The Supreme Court, in the case of State of Uttaranchal v Balwant Singh Chaujal, (2010) 3 SCC 402, had held that in order to preserve the purity and sanctity of the PIL, it has become imperative to issue the following directions: –
(a) The Courts must encourage genuine and bona fide PIL and effectively discourage and curb the PII. filed for extraneous considerations.
(b) Instead of every individual judge devising his own procedure for dealing with the publ public interest litigation, it would be appropriate for each High Court to properly formulate rules for encouraging the genuine PIL and discouraging the PIL filed with oblique motives Consequently, we request that the High Courts who have not yet framed the rules, should frame the rules within three months. The Registrar General of each High Court is directed to ensure that a copy of the Rules prepared by the High Court is sent to the Secretary General of this Court immediately thereafter.
(c) The Courts should prima facie verify the credentials of the petitioner belore entertaining a PIL
(d) The Court should be prima facie satisfied regarding the correctness of the contents of the petition before entertaining a PIL
(e) The Court should be fully satisfied that substantial ntial public interest is involved before entertaining the petition.
(f) The Court should ensure that the petition which involves larger public interest, gravity and urgency must be given priority over other petitions.
(g) The Courts before entertaining the PIL should ensure that the PIL is aimed at redressal of genuine public harm or public injury. The Court should also ensure that there is no personal gain, private motive or oblique motive behind filing the public interest litigation.
(h) The Court should also ensure that the petitions filed by busybodies for extraneous and ulterior motives must be discouraged by imposing exemplary costs or by adopting similar novel methods to curb frivolous petitions and the petitions filed for extraneous considerations
The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Subrata Roy Sahara v. Union of India, (2014) 8 SCC 470, has held that “The Indian judicial system is grossly afflicted, with frivolous litigation. Ways and means need to be evolved, to deter litigants from their compulsive obsession, towards senseless and ill-considered claims. One needs to keep in mind that in the process of litigation, there is an innocent sufferer on the other side, of every irresponsible and senseless claim. He suffers long drawn anxious periods of nervousness and restlessness, whilst the litigation is pending, without any fault on his part.” Recently, the Supreme Court, in Charu Kishor Mehta v. Prakash Patel, SLP(c) No 11030/2022 vide Order dated 22.06.2022 confirmed the Order dated 13.06.2022 of the Bombay High Court, and held that filing frivolous cases in a Court of law is an abuse of process of law. The Court also upheld the order of Bombay High Court imposing the cost of Rs. 5 lakhs on the petitioner and dismissed the Special Leave Petition. The Hon’ble Delhi High Court in the case H. S. Bedi v. NHAI (MANU/ DE/0154/2016) has issued a set of guidelines to the lower Courts for initiating prosecution under Section 209 of the Indian Penal Code in appropriate cases. The High Court said that the reluctance of Courts to take action encourages litigants to make false averments. As stated above, Section 209 of the IPC provides for imprisonment upto two years’ and fine for the offence of fraudulently or dishonestly making a false claim in the Court with the intent to injure or annoy any person.
