Not Court's Duty To Monitor Public Urination, Spitting: Delhi High Court Junks PIL Seeking Prohibition On Affixing Of Photos Of Deities On Walls

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation moved by a lawyer against the practice of affixing sacred images of gods on walls as a measure to prevent public urination, spitting and throwing garbage.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that it is not the duty of a constitutional court to regulate and monitor the movement of each citizen to see whether one indulges in public urination, spitting and littering.

"The concern raised by the petitioner would be better addressed by civic bodies and not by this Court," it said.

The bench said it is a fit case to be dismissed with exemplary costs. "... however, being cognizant of the fact the Petitioner-in-person is a young practising advocate, we refrain from imposing any costs upon the Petitioner. This Court advises and hopes that the Petitioner will exercise necessary diligence and restraint before filing such frivolous PILs in the future," it added.

Observing that the case was nothing but sheer abuse of the process of law that should be crushed at the threshold itself, the court said that frivolous PILs encroach upon valuable judicial time which could be utilised in addressing genuine issues.

"Not only are such PILs to the detriment of the public at large, they are also a threat to the credibility of the judicial system and undermine the faith reposed in the judiciary by the citizens of India. Courts, while being considerate in fostering the doctrine of PIL, must be wary of PILs being filed for the sake of publicity or to promote personal, political or a business agenda and such frivolous PILs must be extinguished at the threshold itself," the court said.

The court also said that the issue raised in the matter has already been addressed by a coordinate bench in Manoj Sharma Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Anr. in March 2014.

However, the petitioner, despite being aware of the aforesaid order, "chose to file a fresh PIL espousing it as a fresh cause", it added.

Advocate Gorang Gupta in the PIL said that although people are using such pictures as a measure to stop open public urination, spitting and littering, it is "harming the religious sentiments of people at large."

The plea alleged that public urination and littering "seriously denigrates and disparages the sanctity of the sacred deity images." Gupta argued that such use of sacred images of religious deities on walls is in violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of India.

Title: Gorang Gupta v. GOVT. OF NCT & ORS.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 1197

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