After 64 public interest litigation petitions (PILs) making “scandalous” insinuations against a former Chief Justice of India and judges of the Supreme Court and the Rajasthan High Court in the past 10 years, the Supreme Court on Monday finally lost patience and imposed ₹25 lakh costs on an organisation, Suraz India Trust, and its chairman Rajiv Daiya, and banned them from ever approaching a court in the country in the guise of espousing public interest.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul heard Mr. Daiya almost through the morning. The Registry had been earlier directed to supply a list of all the 64 PILs that Suraz had filed through Mr. Daiya. The court asked Mr. Daiya to explain the reason and circumstances behind filing each of these petitions. Mr. Daiya said none of his 64 PILs was heard properly. His petitions, filed in public interest, were thwarted by the Supreme Court. The judges had kept dismissing them, saying they were “not inclined” to hear them.
After uninterruptedly addressing the court for over an hour and a half, Mr. Daiya said he needed the court to appoint an amicus curiae in the case and sought an adjournment. Both requests were shot down. “You addressed us for one-and-half hours. Public pays us and you have wasted judicial time here. Look around you in this courtroom, look how many people are waiting for their cases to be heard,” Chief Justice Khehar snapped at Mr. Daiya.
