Concerned over the growing number of frivolous public interest litigations flooding the courts, the Supreme Court has said imposters and busybodies masquerading as "crusaders of justice" should be dealt with in a ruthless manner.
"The court has to act ruthlessly while dealing with imposters and busybodies or meddlesome interlopers impersonating as public-spirited holy men," a Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice L S Panta said dismissing an appeal against dismissal of such a PIL by the Allahabad high court.
The Bench took note of the fact that petitioner Kusum Lata who filed a PIL relating to a tender matter, herself was one of the tenderers.
It said the petitions of such busybodies, who were often actuated by a desire to win notoriety or cheap popularity, "deserve to be thrown out by rejection at the threshold, and in appropriate cases with exemplary costs."
Laying down guidelines for dealing with PILs, the apex court said the court has to be satisfied about the credentials of the petitioner, the prima facie correctness or nature of information given by him ie the information should not be vague and indefinite and it should reflect the gravity and seriousness of the issue involved.
"Courts have to strike a balance between two conflicting interests... nobody should be allowed to indulge in wild and reckless allegations besmirching the character of entertaining such petitions and wasting valuable judicial time which could be otherwise utilised for disposal of genuine cases," it said.