Supreme Court slaps Rs 5 lakh cost on lawyer for misusing PIL

The Supreme Court of India has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakhs on advocate Ashok Pandey for filing a frivolous public interest litigation. Pandey had challenged the oath taken by the chief justice of the Bombay High Court, alleging irregularities. The court expressed its exasperation with the misuse of PILs for publicity and stated that such actions waste the court’s time and resources. The court ordered that failure to pay the fine would result in the government seizing the petitioner’s property.