The Delhi High Court on Septembe 16, dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an inquiry into conflicting claims over an alleged lathi charge during a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest in Delhi.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the issue raised in the petition did not constitute a matter of public interest merely because media reports differed from the Delhi Police's version.
Background
The PIL was filed by Nitin Naresh, who described himself as a member of the media. He had approached the Delhi Police with a representation pointing to what he claimed was a contradiction between the police's statement and media reports concerning the alleged use of force during the protest.
Naresh sought a direction requiring the Delhi Police to consider and decide his representation.
The Bench questioned the basis for bringing the matter under PIL jurisdiction and said a disagreement between media reports and an official statement, by itself, did not establish a public-interest issue.
"All sorts of matters are filed as PIL... Everything that catches your imagination after reading the newspaper, you will file a petition?" the Court remarked.
The Chief Justice further questioned whether the Delhi Police had any legal duty to decide the petitioner's representation merely because conflicting reports had appeared in the media.
"These high-sounding words, accountability, transparency, are not to be used in a vacuum like this. What is your petition? Delhi Police issued a statement, that statement is being contradicted by the media and you are asking us to get an inquiry conducted into it," the Bench observed.
The Court ultimately dismissed the PIL.
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