High Court Shouldn't Entertain Frivolous PILs

[Anta Assamey]

The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday requested that the state high court should not entertain every Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by vested interests based on mere street talk or speculations in public.

State advocate general Sriram Subrahmanyam made this request with the high court which took up a PIL on alleged diversion of endowment funds from the Brahmin Welfare Corporation to Amma Vodi scheme.

“Every talk in the street against the state government cannot be converted into a PIL. I request that such PILs should not be entertained in the court of law,” the advocate general said.

The petitioner did not submit any document showing that the funds were diverted from Brahmin Welfare Corporation to the Amma Vodi scheme.

It also did not produce the earlier GO issued by the finance department on budgetary allocations to the Amma Vodi scheme.

Apparently, the petitioner relied on a GO issued by endowments department.

The advocate general opposed it saying the Brahmin welfare corporation was not a part of the endowments department. The commissioner of endowments is the head of the department of the said corporation and it’s just under the administrative control, he said.

He further pointed out that the petitioner, being a lawyer, had not shown any basis for the plea that the endowment fund has been diverted to Amma Vodi. The GO of the endowments department did not speak of any diversion.

The high court agreed with the advocate general argument and expressed its displeasure at the petitioner. It said there was nothing wrong with the action of the government.

The court wanted to dismiss the PIL, but the petitioner sought a week’s time to file some further documents.