HC rejects PIL seeking recovery of expenses on Modi's fast

The Gujarat high court in Tuesday dismissed a plea demanding that state funds spent on Sadbhavna fast of Narendra Modi be recovered from the chief minister or from Bharatiya Janata Party, observing it was for people to "correct the defects" by exercising their franchise properly in the next elections or take to other lawful means like Satyagraha to arouse the conscience of the government.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala said the court was not competent to go into the question whether government can spend money for a public purpose or whether the decision was wise or not.

"It is for the people to correct the defects by exercising their franchise properly in the next elections and voting for candidates who will fulfill their expectations or by other lawful means like Satyagraha in a peaceful manner to arouse the conscience of the government but the remedy is surely not by approaching the judiciary and asking it to scrutinise the functions of other organs," the bench said.

The PIL filed by Rajesh Mota alleged that Rs 100 crore were spent on Modi's fast.

The court held that expenditure on the function fell in the purview of the executive and there was no need for the judiciary to interfere. Judicial intervention is permissibly only when government's action is unconstitutional, the court said.

"If such questions are allowed to be raised before court, all expenditure of the state can be called into question, both as to the nature and extent thereof, in which event the functioning of the government itself will be hampered," the court observed.

"If court begins entertaining such applications, it would not only disturb the delicate balance of powers between the three wings of the State, but would also strike at the very basis of our democratic polity," the judges observed.