In Brief
The State of Jharkhand challenged the maintainability of two public interest litigations (PILs) filed before the Jharkhand High Court by Shiv Shankar Sharma alleging large-scale corruption and money laundering by the Chief Minister. The High Court had held the PILs maintainable despite procedural defects. The Supreme Court reversed this decision, holding that PILs based on vague allegations without prima facie evidence, filed without compliance with procedural rules, and by petitioners lacking bona fides constitute an abuse of writ jurisdiction. The petitioner had deliberately withheld disclosure of a similar dismissed PIL from 2013, violating procedural rules. The Court emphasized that petitioners must first approach statutory authorities before seeking writ remedies, and that PIL rules exist to encourage genuine public interest litigation while discouraging frivolous or motivated petitions.
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