The Supreme Court on Tuesday sounded caution against public interest litigants (PIls) becoming channels to settle corporate rivalry and the absence of any effective mechanism to check such instances.
The Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, raised these concerns while reserving orders on a PIl filed by the Centre for Public Interest litigation that challenged the auction of 4G spectrum licence issued to Reliance-Jio joint venture.
The NGO CPIl has been at the forefront of exposing high-profile scams including the coal scam, of late and has filed over 50 PIls. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is part of the NGO’s advisory board, appeared in the case to allege severe irregularities in the grant of 4G licence as evident from a draft CAG report, contents of which were available with him.
“Your organisation should not become an instrument in the hands of commercial rivals and it should not appear that both of you work hand-in-gloves,” said the Bench, also comprising of Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi. Bhushan said a Committee of Senior Advocates, some of the best known names in the profession, scrutinise material before a PIl is filed. However, the court emphasised the need to have an independent mechanism to probe whether the PIl was promoting business interest of a corporate rival by misusing the NGO.