Supreme Court of India Warns Lawyer After Dismissing Series of Vague Public Interest Litigations

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed five frivolous public interest litigations filed by a lawyer. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Surya Kant, who headed the bench, expressed his astonishment at the way the litigations were drafted, saying that the litigations might have been drafted at midnight. The Chief Justice asked the lawyer, "Do you draft all these petitions at midnight?"

One of the litigations requested the formation of a committee to study whether onions and garlic have "tamasic" (negative, non-vegetarian) elements.

Sachin Gupta, the lawyer who filed the litigations, was scolded by Justice Surya Kant for the litigations being vague, frivolous, and baseless. Another member of the bench, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, also criticized the lawyer for the litigation.

One petition referred to the dietary practices of the Jain community, which traditionally avoids onions, garlic, and root vegetables, as they are considered tamasic foods.

The CJI asked lawyer Sachin Gupta, "Why do you want to hurt the sentiments of the Jain community?" The petitioner replied that this was a common issue and claimed that divorces had allegedly occurred in Gujarat over the use of onions in food.

The CJI expressed strong displeasure and said, "Next time you bring such a frivolous petition, you will see what we will do."

The bench also dismissed four other public interest litigations filed by Sachin Gupta: one seeking directions to control harmful substances in alcohol and tobacco products, another seeking directions to ensure mandatory registration of properties, and a third seeking guidelines on the declaration of classical languages.

The bench said the demands made in the petitions were vague and lacked any proper legal basis. This petition was another example of a lack of application of mind. The Chief Justice said that if the petitioners were not lawyers, he would have imposed heavy fines on them.