Patna High Court Dismisses PIL Filed By Science Teacher Seeking Exemption From LLB Classes Due To Employment

The division bench headed by Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran deemed the representation as "misguided" and stated that there was no public interest in the exemption sought or the prayers made under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The court held, “We can at best say that the representation is misguided and there can be no consideration of the same. The further arguments are with respect to an R.T.I. application, which again cannot be sought to be agitated in a public interest litigation."

"We also have to pertinently observe that there is no public interest either in the exemption sought for or the prayers made under the R.T.I. Act. The petitioner is purely raising a personal issue; which also by the way the request is couched, is misconceived," the Court added.

The PIL specifically sought a direction to the Chancellor of the University (Respondent No. 1) to consider one Manoj Kumar's representation, requesting exemption from LLB course attendance. The representation sought a directive from the Chancellor to pass an order on the exemption request, following which the petitioner intended to seek admission to a college within the State of Bihar for the LLB course.

Kumar, appearing in person, had also filed an RTI application on 27.01.2023 to the Public Information Officer of the Raj Bhawan, Patna, which was disposed of.

The court, while rejecting the PIL, restrained itself from imposing costs, citing the petitioner's appearance in person.

"We reject the writ petition as misconceived and a clear abuse of the jurisdiction invoked under Article 226; as a public interest litigation,” the Court concluded.

Appearance:

For the Petitioner/s: Mr.Manoj Kumar (In Person)

For the Repondent/s: Mr.P.K.Shahi, Advocate General, Mr. Vikas Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Vipin Kumar, Advocate

Case No.: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17945 of 2023

Case Title: Manoj Kumar vs. The Chancellor of University of Bihar And Ors

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Pat) 17

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