HC dismisses 26 PILs, says depositing court fee is a must

As many as 26 Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed by an 80-year-old social worker were dismissed by the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court which observed that such petitions should be filed in a proper format and after depositing the court fee.

The 26 PILs were filed by a social worker Satyapal Anand on various issues.

The PIL's were dismissed by the bench of justice Prakash Shrivastava and justice Vinay Mittal yesterday after discussing the rules governing PILs.

In its 73-page judgement, the division bench ruled that PILs should be filed in a proper format along with an affidavit. Besides, it is compulsory for the petitioners to deposit the requisite court fee along with the petition.

The bench ruled that if any PIL does not fulfill the mandatory rules of the court and is filed without depositing requisite court fee, then the registry should not list them for hearing.

The division bench also said that any letter or telegram from any person or social organisation cannot be registered automatically as a petition. It is necessary to send such things to chief justice of the high court or to the concerned judge of the court for their consideration.