The Supreme Court of India has expressed its frustration with the rising number of frivolous public interest litigations (PILs) that are being presented before the court. In response, the court has warned of imposing costs and has already imposed costs in some cases, signaling a firm stance against the misuse of the judicial system.
The displeasure of the court was evident during a recent hearing when a PIL filed by a law student, Harsh Gupta, seeking to remove male pronouns from the Constitution of India was brought before the bench. Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud voiced his dissatisfaction with the petition, stating that the court's time was being wasted. The bench also questioned whether they could strike down constitutional provisions merely due to the use of gender-specific language.
Gupta argued that many countries have adopted gender-neutral pronouns in their judiciary and laws. However, Justice P.S. Narasimha questioned the necessity of raising such an issue and asked how the petitioner's fundamental rights were violated under Article 32 of the Constitution.
The petitioner claimed that the non-use of gender-neutral pronouns violated Article 14, but CJI Chandrachud rebutted by stating that using the term "chairman" in the Constitution did not imply that only males could be appointed to such positions. The bench ultimately dismissed the petition, refraining from imposing costs due to the petitioner's status as a law student.
In another instance, advocate Sachin Gupta filed two PILs—one seeking the reclassification of the caste system and the other calling for the phasing out of the reservation system. The bench dismissed both PILs while imposing a cost of ₹25,000 for each. The court expressed its discontent with such PILs, stating that they must come to an end.
The Supreme Court also dismissed a PIL challenging certain sections of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The court noted that the petitioner, S. Venkatesh, failed to demonstrate how he was personally affected by the provisions of the act. The CJI remarked that these matters pertain to personal laws related to inheritance and cannot be heard without proper context.
The proliferation of frivolous PILs has become a cause for concern for the Supreme Court. This misuse of public interest litigation not only consumes valuable judicial time but also impedes the court's efforts to reduce the backlog of pending cases.
Source: Link
Picture Source :
