From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Delhi lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma(68), a serial litigator fined twice and reprimanded many times for filing the frivolous public interest litigations (PIL), on Wednesday had a surprise when Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana asked him to file one on no city civil court in some Uttar Pradesh districts.
When he politely told the Supreme Court that he is often criticised for filing PIL as “once I file a plea everyone jumps on me,” the CJI said with a smile: “Now we are asking you to do it.” Sharma, who calls himself a PIL enthusiast, was quick to respond: “I will file today itself, my lord.”
The interaction cropped up when Sharma said there is no city civil court in a U.P. district. The CJI corrected him, saying there are many such districts and he has written to the Centre about it.
“There are many districts. What to do? We have asked the Centre. I wrote a letter and expressed my anguish. Even submitted a report. You can file a plea,” the CJI said.
Sharma, who is the lead petitioner in the pending Pegasus case, has often invited the wrath of the top court for filing PILs held frivolous.
In 2014, he was imposed costs of Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 in two cases, the first on a PIL to quash the sale of Air India hotels and the second a Habeas Corpus petition on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. In 2015, he was issued notice for filing frivolous PILs, making scandalous and irresponsible allegations against members of Parliament (MPs).
He was also pulled up by the Supreme Court in 2018 for filing a PIL with unfounded charges on Prime Minister Modi and other union ministers.
