PIL on Musharraf visit dismissed

By Nirnimesh Kumar

NEW DELHI, JULY 13. While throwing out a public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging the Union Government's decision to invite the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to visit the country, the Delhi High Court has used the harshest of words against publicity-crazy, self-seeking and politically motivated public interest litigants.

``Public interest litigation, which has come to occupy an important field in the administration of law, should not be `publicity interest litigation' or `private interest litigation' or `politics interest litigation,'' a Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Arajit Pasayat, and Mr. Justice D.K. Jain observed. Setting the outlines of a public interest litigation, the Bench said that there must be real and genuine public interest involved in the litigation and that it could not be invoked by a person or a body of persons to further his or their causes or satisfy his or their personal grudge and enmity or get publicity.

``Courts of justice should not be allowed to be polluted by unscrupulous litigants by resorting to the extraordinary jurisdiction,'' the Bench observed. Setting the standards for defining a PIL, the Bench said that the court had to satisfy itself about the credentials of the applicant and prima facie correctness and clarity of nature of information given by him.

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