In a set back to the State unit of the BJP, which is heading a protest against the entry of women to Sabarimala, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday imposed a cost of ₹25,000 on party State general secretary Shobha Surendran for filing a frivolous public interest litigation alleging that the police were filing false cases against Ayyappa devotees.
The Bench of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar directed her to pay the amount to the Kerala High Court Legal Service Committee. The court made it clear that if she failed to pay the amount within two weeks, the State government should initiate steps to recover the amount.
Dismissing the petition filed by Ms. Surendran, the Bench said the personal interest of the petitioner was sought to be espoused in the petition. Besides, the petition was filed with mischievous intentions and for publicity. The court also pointed out that the averments were made in such a way that they masked the real intention of the petitioner.
The court observed that the petitioner sought a directive to the State government to furnish all cases that resulted in acquittals from January 7, 2014 till now and also the designation and names of the officers who investigated the cases.
At the same time, the interim relief sought by her was to direct the government to furnish the list of cases registered against Ayyappa devotees in various districts from September 29.
The petition was filed on the basis of an RTI information regarding the cases that ended in acquittal obtained by her counsel. The interim prayer had no connection with the application filed under the RTI Act, the court added.
Though counsel for Ms. Surendran tendered an unconditional apology and sought to withdraw the case, the court did not accept the pleas and imposed the cost, observing that a message would be sent to all those who abused the process of law. The petitioner said in her petition that the Supreme Court in the State of Gujarat vs Kishanbhai case had directed all the State governments to make the investigation officer accountable for all acquittals in criminal cases.
However, the State government was yet to comply with the directives. Had the State government implemented the Supreme Court order, there would not have been mass illegal arrests in the State in the recent past.
