No public interest: HC imposes fine on litigant

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka imposed a cost of Rs.25,000 on five petitioners from Bagalkot who had challenged the allotment of house sites to the victims of the Ghataprabha River flood in 2009.

Noting that only 22 of the 295 families which were allotted sites were made party to the public interest litigation (PIL), the HC said the petition was against public interest and imposed the fine.

“After perusing the Records, we are of the considered opinion that the Authorities being the paren patria have provided sites/ houses to the have-nots that too as a matter of public policy. There is absolutely no justification whatsoever for the Petitioners’ to put the same in challenge. The Petition runs counter to the public interest and therefore, the same is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs,” the bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit said in their recent judgement.

The petition was filed by Kallappa, Mounesh Badiger, Basavaraj Badiger, Shrishai Badiger and Yellappa Pattanashette.

They sought for the invalidation of the allotment of the sites to the victims. The government advocate however opposed the PIL stating that the allotments were made in the year 2011 following a Gram Panchayat Resolution on October 27, 2009.

Some alterations were made in 2011 itself after agitation by the villagers. A petition filed in the HC about the issue was also withdrawn in 2019.

There was no plausible explanation for the long delay in filing a PIL, he argued. The counsel also pointed out that only 22 of the 295 families which received sites were made party to the PIL and therefore the petition lacks bona fide.

A complaint filed before the Karnataka Human Rights Commission was investigated and the allegations made were found to be false.

Therefore dismissing the petition, the HC said, “In the above circumstances, the Petition being devoid of merits is liable to be and accordingly dismissed with costs of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand) only payable by the first Petitioner Sri Kallappa s/o Bhimappa Kadaballavar and Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand) only payable by each of the other Petitioners to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, Bengaluru, within four weeks.” (WP 52555/2019)