The Supreme Court has recently said that a PIL cannot be thrown simply because the petitioner belongs to a rival political party. The court has said that a person with political affiliation is entitled to file a PIL like any other person. The court, in its order, has ordered interim relief in the case of revival of the FIR against the election agent SK Supian of Bengal, CM Mamta Banerjee in the Nandigram violence case.
However, the question of whether litigation is a matter of goodwill is a separate issue that the court has to examine from case to case depending on the nature of the complaint. The comments came in response to the presentations made by senior advocate Vikas Singh on behalf of the petitioner and senior advocate AM Singhvi appearing for the state of West Bengal, stating that the PIL has been initiated by persons belonging to any political party. Ergo, it should not be heard.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim relief to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s election agent SK Supian, while ordering an interim stay on March 5, 2021, in response to the PIL. The court admitted that the writ petitions were pending in the High Court and asked the Division Bench of the High Court to hear the arguments and finally decide within a week or two. Therefore, it will be open to the parties concerned to express all the arguments before the High Court.
