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SC scan on PILs with 'political colour'

-The Telegraph

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has decided to examine the constitutional question of whether a political party or a political leader can file a PIL before it.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitav Roy decided to examine the maintainability of such PILs after attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi said that two PILs filed by an NGO-turned-political outfit, Swaraj Abhiyan, and a Chhattisgarh leader cannot be entertained because of the "political colour" attached to the petitions.

The PILs sought a probe by the CBI or any other independent agency into the Agusta Westland helicopter deal.

When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, Rohatgi raised objections against the maintainability of the Swaraj Abhiyan petition on the ground that it had already filed an application before the Election Commission seeking registration as a political party called "Swaraj India". The EC's decision is pending.

On the second PIL filed by T.S. Singh Deo, Rohatgi contended that he was a leader of Opposition in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, so a petition of such a nature from him was not maintainable.

Swaraj Abhiyan is a breakaway group of the Aam Aadmi Party, which had expelled its prominent leaders, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav.

The AG argued that when an issue takes a political colour or a political protagonist tries to settle scores in the guise of a PIL, the petition loses the character of a public interest litigation.

The court then asked the Centre, Swaraj Abhiyan and Singh Deo to file their respective submissions on the maintainability of the PILs. The next hearing is on January 10, 2017.