'This Is Not The Way Of Filing A PIL' : Supreme Court Pulls Up ML Sharma In Pegasus Case
The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up serial litigant Advocate ML Sharma over the PIL filed by him seeking probe into the Pegasus snooping controversy.Nine petitions on the Pegasus issue were listed before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant.As the bench took up the cases, Sharma sought to make submissions first, saying that his case was listed as...
The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up serial litigant Advocate ML Sharma over the PIL filed by him seeking probe into the Pegasus snooping controversy.
Nine petitions on the Pegasus issue were listed before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant.
As the bench took up the cases, Sharma sought to make submissions first, saying that his case was listed as the first item.
"Mr.Sharma, no doubt you have filed the writ petition first. Let Mr.Sibal lead the matter. He is a senior advocate after all", the CJI then said, asking Sharma to let Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal argue first.
Sharma replied that his petition raised different issues.
"Mr.Sharma, except newspaper cuttings, what is there in your petition. What purpose you have filed the petition for? You want us to collect the material and argue your case? This is not the way of filing a PIL. We also read newspapers", CJI expressed displeasure at his PIL.
Seconding the sentiments of CJI, Justice Surya Kant pointed out that Sharma has rushed to the Court the very next day of sending a complaint to the CBI.
The bench also said that it cannot issue notice on Sharma's petition, as he has made certain individuals as respondents. His petition lists Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his individual capacity as the first respondent.
"Mr.Sharma, the problem in your petition is that you have added individual persons etc. I can't issue notice straightaway", CJI told him.
Sharma then sought permission to remove the individual name from the petition.
"You do whatever you want", CJI replied.
Sharma is known for filing PILs in sensational matters such as Rafale deal, Article 370, Hyderabad police encounter etc. In 2018, the Supreme Court had imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on him for filing a frivolous PIL against the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
In 2019, the Supreme Court had pulled up Sharma for filing a shoddily drafted petition challenging the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, he had filed a petition challenging the three controversial farm laws. Also, in April he filed another PIL seeking a fresh probe into the Rafale deal in the light of reports about French investigation against Dassault. Sharma had created headlines in 2013 with his controversial remarks blaming the victim in the gruesome Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case, as a lawyer of one of the accused.