The Supreme Court said on Friday that Public Interest Litigation was meant only for espousing the cause of the poor and it could not be used to seek the ouster of a CM.
A Bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice A.K. Sikri, making this observation, declined to interfere with an order of the Madras High Court imposing Rs. 25,000 in costs on social activist ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy for filing a PIL plea against the appointment of O. Panneerselvam as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. The petitioner had contended that since Mr. Panneerselvam owed allegiance to a “convicted person” he could not be appointed as Chief Minister.
Dismissing a special leave petition against this order, the CJI said: “You say that leader [Mr. Panneerselvam] should not function as Chief Minister. PILs are not for ouster of a Chief Minister. We cannot entertain this petition.”
