Punjab & Haryana High Court Makes Verification Of Identity/Address Proof Mandatory Before Filing Of Pleas

In this regard, the Court has directed that 'authentic documents' which establish the identity of an individual like Aadhar Card number or Passport number must be mentioned in the pleas by the petitioners, and the same must be verified by the counsel before the filing of the petition.

The matter in brief

Essentially, the bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli came across a case wherein one Sukhvir Singh Lather, posing as Bajinder Singh (a fictitious person), filed a PIL (Public Interest Petition) and obtained orders from the High Court.

This matter came to light while the Court was hearing a petition filed by one Anil Kumar. The Court referred to an earlier petition wherein one Bajinder (later found to be a fictitious person) had filed a PIL, against the same set of respondents and with the same cause of action.

The Court was informed by the Counsel that the earlier plea (Bajinder one) was filed on the instance of one Sukhvir Singh Lather, working on a contractual basis in the office of Chief Engineer, BWS, Irrigation & W.R. Department, Haryana, Panchkula.

When the Court called for Lather's response, he initially submitted that several persons who had issues with the department would seek his legal advice for filing petition(s) and he would refer them to the advocates.

He further submitted that likewise one Bajinder Singh had approached him and he had referred him to the counsel, who is appearing for the petitioner – Anil Kumar, even in the instant petition.

However, later on, he accepted the fact he himself posed as Bajinder Singh and got filed by signing all the documents as Bajinder Singh. He also submitted that this fact was neither known to Mr. Jasminder Singh Thind, nor to Mr. Balsher Singh, who were the counsel even in the earlier writ petition.

He admitted that he had made a grave mistake and for which he tendered an unconditional apology.

Accepting the unconditional apology tendered by him and after warning to be careful in future, the Court, with a view to protect the advocates, issued the following order making IDs and address proof-verification necessary:

"…identity of the petitioner(s); and their residential address should be verified prior to filing of any matter by mentioning the Aadhar Card number(s) or Passport number(s) etc., which are considered to be the authentic documents to establish the identity of an individual, alongwith contact number(s) and address should be clearly mentioned in the petition and verified by the learned counsel before filing of the petition."

Lastly, the Court also directed that necessary steps for compliance with the Court's directions be initiated by the Registry/Office forthwith.

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