THE GUJARAT High Court (HC) on Thursday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the Somnath Temple, holding that it was based on unverified claims sourced from newspaper reports and social media posts and imposed exemplary costs of Rs 2 lakh on the petitioner.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray accepted the State government’s contention that the petition was devoid of merit and amounted to an abuse of the PIL jurisdiction.
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The petitioner, Vilas Tukaram Kharat, a resident of Maharashtra, had sought disclosure of an alleged archaeological survey purportedly conducted beneath the Somnath Temple by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and IIT Gandhinagar.
During the hearing, Government Pleader G H Virk, appearing for the State, argued that the petition was a “publicity litigation” intended to embroil the Shree Somnath Trust – one of the respondents to the petition – in an “unwarranted” controversy. He also pointed out factual inaccuracies in the pleadings, including the petitioner’s reliance on a purported “Shree Somnath Trust Act, 1955”, although no such legislation exists.
The Bench questioned the petitioner on why he had invoked the court’s PIL jurisdiction without first approaching the competent authorities to obtain the information sought. The court further noted that although Kharat claimed to represent an NGO, Sanatan Dhamm, he had neither disclosed his occupation nor produced any material to establish his association with the organisation.
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The petitioner also admitted during the hearing that the allegations in the PIL were founded entirely on newspaper reports and social media posts.
Observing that such petitions undermine the credibility of genuine public interest litigation, the HC dismissed the plea and imposed costs of Rs 2 lakh on the petitioner.
The petitioner also admitted during the hearing that the allegations in the PIL were founded entirely on newspaper reports and social media posts.
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