Bombay HC Imposes 10K Cost On PIL For Setting-Up 'Anti-Organized Crime Unit' At Aarey Milk Colony, Constituting 'Cave Temple Commission'

The Bombay High has dismissed with costs a 'frivolous' PIL which sought constitution of an 'Anti-Organized Crime Unit' at the Aarey Milk Colony, constitution of a 'Bombay Cave Temple Commission' and a 'Transnational Sanatan Commission' along with other diverse prayers.

“Having devoted considerable time in hearing such pleas, we find it extremely difficult to comprehend and understand the very purpose of instituting these proceedings as a PIL petition” the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar remarked.

The Court noted that the prayers of the PIL reveal multiple and diverse issues. The prayer includes directing the State of Maharashtra and other respondent-authorities to constitute Anti-Organized Crime Unit and to revoke leases to Aarey Milk Colony for alleged acts of human trafficking and other crimes at the area.

Further, the PIL sought to establish 'Bombay Cave Temple Commission' under the military for administering cave temples and 'Transnational Sanatan Commission' to protect cave colonies, temples and other religious/Hindu properties. The petition also prayed for allocation of a dedicated budget for regular Hindu rituals for all temples and for payment of salaries to priests and other staff on temples.

Referring to the prayer for immediate shutdown of the UNICEF Aided Dairy Teaching Institute in Aarey and to direct UNICEF and New Zealand to provide reports for use of 100% buffalo dried milk imported from New Zealand, the Court observed:

“We find ourselves at loss of words if we peruse the array of respondents where even the UNICEF, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Consulate General of New Zealand, Chief of Defence Staff, Ministry of External Affairs and President of India's Office have been arrayed as respondents.”

The Court also observed that the petitioner demanded direction to pay him the cost of petition and expenses incurred by him for research and development.

The Court stated that the petition was “…full of fancies which according to the petitioner, are based on some research said to have been conducted by him.”

It further stated “Even the nature of the prayers made suggests that by filing this PIL petition, the petitioner aspires for imposition of his own ideas or results of his own alleged study, on the State through the process of the Court. It is not only that in the instant PIL petition multiple causes of action have been asserted but also that the petition clearly suffers from the legal vice of mis-joinder of causes of action.”

It remarked that the prayers made in the petition were the petitioner's 'figment of imagination' and that they do not have any legal basis.

Court thus imposed a cost of Rs. 10,000 and cautioned the petitioner against filing such petitions unless he acquaints himself with the legal framework for filing PIL before the court.

Case title: Crimeophobia – A Criminology Firm Through its founder – Criminologist Snehil Dhall vs. Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development and Ors. (Public Interest Litigation No.49 of 2024)

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