While dismissing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the allocation of road tenders in Mohali, the Punjab and Haryana High Court clarified that the judicial forum is not meant to be used to present private disputes under the guise of public interest.
**₹25,000 Fine Imposed on Deputy Mayor Bedi**
The Court also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on the petitioner, Mohali Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi. He has been directed to deposit this amount into the PGI Poor Patient Welfare Fund within 15 days. The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjeev Berry. In his petition, Bedi had raised questions regarding the tender process for the re-surfacing and beautification of roads under the ‘Mohali Next Generation Programme.’
The Court observed that, pursuant to its directions, the petitioner had filed an affidavit disclosing his political role; however, serious discrepancies emerged in the facts presented within the petition. The Court specifically cited a table in which the petitioner claimed to have executed the horticulture work on a 45-meter-wide road located at Medicity in New Chandigarh, whereas other works were listed as having been allocated to different contractors. When an explanation was sought regarding this, the petitioner’s counsel stated that this information had been derived from other documents and was, in fact, factually incorrect. However, the Court noted that the documents on record did not substantiate this claim.
**Case Pertains to Private, Not Public, Interest: Court**
The Court further noted that while the petitioner claimed to have lodged multiple complaints regarding the alleged irregularities, no documentary evidence of any such complaints was placed on record. The Bench observed that, based on the available facts, the matter appeared to be one of private interest rather than public interest, and that an attempt had been made to cloak it as a Public Interest Litigation. On these grounds, the Court dismissed the petition, deeming it non-maintainable, and stated that the Court’s time and resources cannot be squandered on such matters.
