Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: February 17, 2022 at 14:54 IST
The Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against creation of a new district Sarangarh – Bilaigarh in the State of Chhattisgarh.
The Division Bench comprised of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice NK Chandravanshi. The Gram Panchayat, Kandola filed the Application through its Sarpanch Onkar Patel.
The Petitioner sought to set aside a notification issued by the State Government through which the new district is sought to be created by the exercise of powers under Section 13(2) of Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959. The new district will be created by altering the limits of Raigarh and Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara.
Additional Advocate General Meena Shastri informed the Court that four PILs filed in 2022 on the same subject were already pending before the Court and thus it was not justified to entertain another PIL on the same matter.
The Court observed Rule 79(1) of the High Court of Chhattisgarh Rules, 2007 which requires the Petitioner’s statement whether any Petition of same cause was filed in the Court, to be mentioned in the Petition.
In this Case, the Petitioner made an averment that no other PIL on the same subject was pending before the Court to the best of his knowledge.
Advocate Kale representing the Petitioner sought permission from the Court to withdraw the Application filed with the liberty to file another appropriate Application in the pending PIL Petitions.
The Petitioner was granted liberty by the Court to file an Application. The Court remarked that in the event of filing the Application, it shall be considered in accordance with law.