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PETITIONER: GIANI DEVENDER SINGH

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER

DATE OF JUDGMENT04/01/1995

BENCH: RAY, G.N. (J) BENCH: RAY, G.N. (J) SAWANT, P.B.

CITATION:  1995 AIR 1847            1995 SCC  (1) 391  JT 1995 (1)   263        1995 SCALE  (1)25

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT: The Judgment of the Court was delivered by G.N.  RAY,  J.- These special leave petitions  are  directed against  the judgment and order dated 8-12-1993 passed by  a Division  Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh  (Indore Bench)  in  Miscellaneous  Petition No.  63  of  1993.   The Division  Bench by the said order dismissed the petition  of the  petitioner  made before the Madhya Pradesh  High  Court (Indore  Bench) inter alia contending that  the  respondents failed  to comply with the direction contained in the  order dated 27-2-1992 passed in Miscellaneous Petition No. 266  of 1992  by a Division Bench of the Indore Bench of the  Madhya Pradesh  High Court.  As the direction dated  27-2-1992  was passed by a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High  Court consisting of the Chief 393 Justice of the said High Court and Mr Justice VS.  Kokje,  a Single  Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court  before  whom the petition alleging noncompliance of the direction of  the High  Court was placed for disposal, directed to  place  the matter before Hon’ble the Chief Justice at Jabalpur so  that the Chief Justice would constitute an appropriate Bench  for the  disposal of the said application.  The  learned  Single Judge, namely, Mr Justice VS.  Kokje called for the  records of the cases mentioned in the application of the  petitioner from the Court of the learned Sessions Judge, Mandsaur.   It was  directed  that the learned  Sessions  Judge,  Mandsaur, should  transmit  the  records of the  cases  filed  by  the petitioner  in  various courts under the  judgeship  of  the learned  Sessions  Judge  to  the  High  Court.   The   said application  was numbered before the Division Bench  of  the Madhya  Pradesh High Court as Miscellaneous Petition No.  63 of  1993  and as aforesaid by the impugned  order  the  said miscellaneous  petition was dismissed by the Division  Bench consisting  of  Mr Justice VS.  Kokje and  Mr  Justice  R.D. Shukla.   It may be stated here that one of the  members  of

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the Division Bench, namely, the then Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court which disposed of Miscellaneous  Petition No.  266  of  1992  on  27-2-1992  retired  when  the   said Miscellaneous  Petition  No.  63 of 1993 was  taken  up  for hearing by the Division Bench constituted for the purpose. 2.   It appears from the order dated 27-2-1992 passed by the Division  Bench  consisting  of the then  Chief  Justice  of Madhya Pradesh High Court, Justice S.K. Jha and Justice  VS. Kokje  in  Miscellaneous  Petition No. 266 of  1992  that  a public  interest litigation was filed by the petitioner  and he  was  heard in person.  The Division Bench in  the  order dated 27-2-1992 has noted to the following effect:               "Petitioner in person.  He is heard.  This  is               supposed  to  be a piece  of  public  interest               litigation.   As to whether it is a  piece  of               litigation  or  not,  is not easy  for  us  to               discern.   Be that as it may, as we have  been               able  to  understand,  the  petitioner  Sardar               Gyani  Devendra  Singhji, Sant  Sipahi,  feels               very  much aggrieved and pained by the  entire               social order and the clandestine activities by               all  and sundry in the country  affecting  not               only the country’s finances, but eating up the               nerves  of the entire nation in  all  spheres.               According  to the petitioner, he and his  wife               are   Sevadars  in  a  Gurdwara   situate   at               Ratangarh  in the District of  Mandsaur.   His               grievance  is that there is an oil  mill  near               the   Gurdwara  in  which,  for  all   outward               purposes,  edible oils are  manufactured,  but               people  there are engaged more in  clandestine               business  of  smuggling  and  selling   opium,               heroin,  brown sugar, poppy husk and the  like               and the authorities are not taking any care to               see that such activities are stopped.   Rather               they are said to be hand in glove with the oil               mill owners.  It is, therefore, prayed that  a               direction  be  issued  to  whomsoever  it  may               concern, to stop this clandestine business and               smuggling  and  instead, to direct  the  Union               Government to make arrangements for export  of               these costly items in               394               order to conserve foreign exchange so that the               country’s finances which are more or less in a               shattered  state, may, to a great  extent,  be               revived.               Howsoever   absurd  the  prayer  may  be   and               whatever be the intention of the petitioner in               filing this petition, one thing is quite clear               that  he  is  obsessed with  great  and  lofty               ideals.  Therefore, for whatever worth it  is,               in  order  to satisfy his  vanity,  we  hereby               direct  to  whomsoever it  may  concern,  that               smuggling  and  underground dealings  in  such               dangerous articles as mentioned above,  should               be  stopped and the sooner the better for  the               country.   All those officers who are said  or               alleged to be (more imaginary than real)  (sic               in  collusion)  with those carrying  on  these               nefarious activities be sacked and the  entire               administrative  machinery  of the  country  be               overhauled  by recruiting  only  conscientious               and devoted people like the petitioner so that               the already suffering masses of the nation are

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             no longer made to suffer." 3.   In the petition numbered as Miscellaneous Petition  No. 63 of 1993 in which the impugned decision has been made, the petitioner complained before  the Madhya Pradesh High  Court that  neither  the  authorities  concerned  of  the  Central Government  nor  of the State Government complied  with  the direction contained in the said order dated 27-2-1992 passed in  Miscellaneous Petition No. 266 of 1992.  The  petitioner alleged  that the direction of the Division Bench  contained in  the  said  order dated 27-2-1992 was  published  in  the newspaper.   The  petitioner also alleged that he  drew  the attention  of  the authorities concerned to such  order  and also about inaction on their part in not taking  appropriate steps  to  stop nefarious activities  including  clandestine business  of smuggling and selling of opium,  heroin,  brown sugar,  poppy  husk and the like in the premises of  an  oil mill  situated in the District of Mandsaur.  The  petitioner complained that the authorities concerned failed to take any step  to  prevent  such activities.  On  the  contrary  they worked  hand in glove with the owners of the oil mill.   The petitioner  prayed  that  a direction should  be  issued  to whomsoever it may concern to stop such clandestine  business of smuggling activities and the Union Government be directed to  make  arrangements for export of those costly  items  in order  to earn foreign exchange so that  country’s  finances which  were more or less in a shattered state could be to  a great extent revived. 4.   In  disposing  of  the  said  petition  alleging   non- compliance of the aforesaid direction dated 27-2-1992 passed by  the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High  Court  in Miscellaneous Petition No. 266 of 1992, it has been held  in the  impugned order dated 8-12-1993 that the petitioner  has given some instances which according to the petitioner  were not followed though the notice of the officer concerned  and also of the judicial officers was brought to the said facts. The Division Bench has held that the direction contained  in the  order dated 27-2-1992 was of a general nature,  and  in view  of the general allegations against all concerned  made by the petitioner, no relief can be given to the  petitioner and the petition deserves to be dismissed. 395 5.   It  has  been  alleged in  the  instant  special  leave petitions  that the petitioner made a complaint on  3-1-1992 in  the Court of Additional District Judge and  also  before the District Judge, Mandsaur, on 18-1-1992.  Such complaints were again presented to the said Judges on 29-1-1992 and  on 27-2-1992.   As no appropriate action had been taken by  the Additional District Judge and the District Judge,  Mandsaur, the  petitioner presented the application before the  Indore Bench  of the Madhya Pradesh High Court containing the  said complaints  after  suitably modifying the same and  on  such application the said order dated 27-2-1992 was passed. 6.   The petitioner has alleged that after getting a copy of the said order dated 27-2-1992 passed by the Division  Bench of  the  Madhya Pradesh High  Court,  twenty-five  photostat copies of the said order were made and the same were sent to Press Club, Indore, for circulation and necessary action  by the  authorities  concerned.  According to  the  petitioner, wide  circulation to the order was given.  On 28-2-1992,  in Free  Journal  of  Indore the order was  published.   As  no authority  concerned gave attention to the said  order,  the petitioner  sent  the  copies  of the  said  order  to  Shri Dhamsana,   the  Superintendent  of  Police,  Indore,   Shri Narender  Pal Singh, Collector of Mandsaur, Shri Ram  Niwas, SP,  Mandsaur.  A photo copy of the order was also  sent  to

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Shri  Amitabh  Jain, Sub-Divisional Magistrate  of  Neemuch. Such orders were circulated to the said authorities in order to enable them to take appropriate action against Shri  Ghan Syam Lal and other owners of the Oil Mill at Mandsaur and to take   appropriate  action  against  nefarious   activities, namely,  dealing in heroin, opium, brown sugar,  smack  etc. indulged by the owners of the said mill and other antisocial elements.   The petitioner has alleged that  the  complaints made by the petitioner before the Additional District Judge, 1st  Court  and also before the Additional  District  Judge, IInd  Court,  Mandsaur,  were  dismissed  although  in  such complaint petitions besides the allegations about  nefarious and illegal activities being conducted by the said Oil  Mill owners,  a  copy of the order dated 27-2-1992  of  the  High Court  was  annexed.  The petitioner alleges  that  he  also filed  petition  of complaint before  the  Additional  Chief Judicial  Magistrate  and the District Judge,  Mandsaur  and also  in  the Court of Shri Roop Singh, Alawa but  all  such applications were dismissed.  The petitioner also  presented application  in the Court of Shri G.B. Ail Jatwal  and  Shri I.P.  Singh,  Solanki, Judicial Magistrate, Jawak,  but  the said Judicial Officers also did not take any action and  the complaint petitions were deposited in the record room.   The complaints were also made against the Chief Administrator of the  Municipal  Corporation,  Ratangarh  because  the   said Administrator   failed   to  take  appropriate   action   in preventing  public  nuisance committed within the  said  Oil Mill.  The petitioner alleged that the Sevadars of Gurdwara, Ratangarh and owners of Hanuman Small Industries (Oil  Mill) have  indulged and allowed commission of these  illegal  and smuggling  activities concerning narcotic  and  psychotropic drugs.   The  petitioner has alleged that  although  it  was incumbent  on the part of the Sub-Divisional  Magistrate  to take  appropriate action on the basis of the complaint  made by the petitioner, more 396 so,  when the said order dated 27-2-1992 of the  High  Court was annexed with the petition of the complaint, the  learned Magistrate dismissed the said application on 11-3-1992.   It has  been alleged by giving the name of a Judge of the  High Court  that  the said Judge being  dishonest,  communal  and corrupt,  the Judicial Officers before whom  the  complaints were presented, failed and neglected to take action  because of  patronage of the High Court Judge.  The  petitioner  has alleged  that  all  the Judicial Officers  before  whom  the petitions  of complaint had been presented disposed of  such applications  without passing any effective and  appropriate order.   Hence,  such  judicial officers are  liable  to  be prosecuted,  and  their  action  amounted  to  defaming  the petitioner.   It has also been alleged that if no action  is taken   against  such  illegal  and   nefarious   activities concerning the narcotic and psychotropic drugs, the national exchequer  will be losing every day about Rs 500 crores  and smugglers and antisocial elements will flourish. 7.   A prayer has also been made that instruction should  be issued  for implementation of Hindi as national language  of India  because  the direction for making Hindi  as  national language  should have been made at least twenty-eight  years ago.   The petitioner has also made a prayer that he  should be  compensated for the loss suffered by him  from  1-3-1992 and  the  nation  should also be compensated  for  the  loss suffered by the nation and such compensation should come out of the pockets of such persons who did not care to take  any action  on the complaints made by the petitioner and  comply with the order passed by the High Court on 27-2-1992.

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8.   So  far  as the direction contained in the  said  order dated  27-2-1992  is concerned, it appears to us  that  such direction  was  made  by making some  general  and  sweeping observations  on  the  basis  of  allegations  made  by  the petitioner.   It  also  appears  that  the  High  Court   in disposing  of Miscellaneous Petition No. 266 of 1992 by  its order dated 27-2-1992 has clearly noted that it was not easy to discern precisely what the petitioner intended to  allege in  the  petition presented before the Indore Bench  of  the Madhya  Pradesh High Court.  The High Court as a  matter  of fact, observed that "howsoever absurd the prayer may be  and whatever  may be the intention of the petitioner  in  filing the  alleged public interest litigation, one thing is  clear that  he  is  obsessed  with  great  and  lofty  ideals  and therefore for whatever worth it is, in order to satisfy  his vanity,  we  direct  to  whomsoever  it  may  concern,   the smuggling  and  underground  activities  in  such  dangerous articles  should  be stopped and sooner the better  for  the country." 9.   It also appears from the order dated 27-2-1992 that the High Court noted that the officers who were alleged to  have been  carrying on nefarious activities were  more  imaginary than  real  but it was directed that the officers  who  were carrying on such activities should be sacked and the  entire administration  of  the  country  should  be  overhauled  by recruiting  only conscientious and devoted people  like  the petitioner. 10.  It appears to us that when the High Court was not in  a position to precisely discern what was the complaint alleged by the petitioner and when 397 the  High Court was of the view that the prayer made by  the petitioner was absurd and it also held that the officers who were  alleged to have been carrying on nefarious  activities were more imaginary than real, the direction in general  and sweeping terms to sack erring officers (whomsoever they  may be)  and  overhaul  the administration  by  recruiting  only conscientious  and  devoted people like  the  petitioner  in order  to satisfy the vanity of the petitioner,  should  not have been made.  If the High Court intends to pass an  order on  an application presented before it by treating it  as  a public  interest litigation, the High Court  must  precisely indicate the allegations or the statements contained in such petition  relating to public interest litigation and  should indicate  how  public interest was involved and  only  after ascertaining the correctness of the allegation, should  give specific direction as may deem just and proper in the  facts of the case. 11.  It  appears to us that the application was disposed  of by  the  Division Bench of Madhya Pradesh High  Court  in  a lighter  vein  and the order dated 27-2-1992 is  couched  in veiled sarcasm.  Such course of action, to say the least, is not  desirable  and the High Court should  not  have  issued mandate  in  general  and  sweeping  terms  which  were  not intended  to  be implemented and were not capable  of  being implemented because of utter vagueness of the mandate and of its inherent absurdity. 12.  It  appears  to  us when the  petitioner  alleged  non- compliance  of the direction of the High Court as  contained in  the  said order dated 27-2-1992, the Division  Bench  of which  Mr Justice VS.  Kokje was one of the  members,  which passed  the order dated 27-2-1992, felt that the said  order was not capable of being implemented and therefore dismissed the  application by passing the impugned order.  It is  only unfortunate  that  the  petitioner, a  layman,  appeared  in

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person and when his petition was entertained by the Division Bench  having  the  then Chief Justice of High  Court  as  a member,  and  was disposed of by giving some  direction,  he must  have  hoped that his efforts  to  eradicate  nefarious activities as alleged by him, have been crowned with success and  it appears that he moved various authorities  zealously to   implement  the  mandate  of  the  High  Court   without appreciating  that  such mandate was of no  consequence  and prayer for implementation is to be dismissed unceremoniously at a later stage. 13.  However, we have considered the present petition  moved by  the  petitioner in person.  It appears to  us  that  the petition which has been presented before this Court lacks in material  particulars  and  it is  also  very  difficult  to discern  precisely the allegations sought to be made in  the said  application.  The petitioner has also made a wide  and sweeping  allegation  against  a Judge  of  the  High  Court without giving any instance how and in what manner the  said Judge  has  influenced the other judicial  officers  of  the State.  Such sweeping allegations against a Judge and  other judicial  officers  need to be deprecated  in  no  uncertain terms.   But  it  appears to us that  the  petitioner  is  a confused  person  obsessed  with various  lofty  ideals  and perhaps  has failed to appreciate the consequence of  making wild  allegations against judicial officers.  Even  in  this application, the petitioner has alleged 398 that this Court should pass direction for making Hindi as  a national  language because such direction should  have  been given twenty-eight years ago.  He has also contended that he should  be  compensated for the loss alleged  to  have  been suffered by him from 1-3-1992 without indicating how and  in what  manner  he has suffered losses.  He has  also  alleged that  the  nation should also be compensated  for  the  loss suffered  by  the  nation from the pockets  of  the  persons concerned  who did not care to take action  against  illegal and  improper activities by the mill owners and  some  other persons.   Such statements, to say the least,  reveal  utter confusion  and  obsessions  of  the  petitioner.   We   are, therefore, not inclined to take any serious view of the wild allegations  made  against  some  of  the  members  of   the judiciary. 14.We  may  indicate here that, as a matter  of  fact,  when these matters were taken up for hearing before another Bench of  this  Court on 12-8-1994 the said Bench,  with  respect, rightly  could not appreciate the precise relief  which  the petitioner  was seeking as the petitioner was  appearing  in person and was making reference about various cases filed in different courts without giving relevant particulars of such cases and orders passed in such cases.  Hence, the Bench  in its order dated 12-8-1994 indicated that it was not possible for  the  Court  to understand what  were  those  cases  and against  whom the same had been filed because the copies  of those orders were not available on the record.  By the  said order  dated 12-8-1994 it was directed that  the  Secretary, Supreme  Court Legal Aid Committee, would render  assistance to  the petitioner to project his grievance and  assist  the Court  and  the  petitioner was  directed  to  approach  the Supreme  Court  Legal  Aid Committee for  the  purpose.   It appears  that  in view of the direction, a counsel  of  this Court  was engaged by the Supreme Court Legal Aid  Committee but  for  the  reasons best known  to  the  petitioner,  the petitioner  chose to address the Court in person and in  his submission  he made general and sweeping remarks  about  the increase   in  corruption  and  malpractices  gripping   the

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country, seriously affecting the progress of the nation.  He also alleged that various smuggling and nefarious activities relating  to  narcotic  and psychotropic  drugs  were  being committed  by  the  owners of an oil mill  situated  in  the District  of Mandsaur and various complaints made by him  in different law courts were simply dismissed.  In the  absence of  the copies of complaints alleged to have been  presented in  various  courts  of  law  and  orders  passed  on   such complaints,  it is not possible to appreciate  whether  such complaints  were  maintainable  or not and  whether  or  not orders  passed  on  such complaints  were  justified.   That apart,  if an order is passed by a court, a party  aggrieved may  move  against such order in a manner known to  law  and within  the framework of law.  As the impugned order of  the High Court dated 8-12-1993 passed in Miscellaneous  Petition No.  63  of 1993 does not call for any interference  and  as these  petitions do not merit any further consideration,  we dismiss the same without any order as to costs. 15.It, however, appears that the petitioner, an old man  and a  Sewadar of a Gurdwara has been crying hoarse that in  the premises  of an oil mill near the Gurdwara at  Ratangarh  in Madhya Pradesh various smuggling and illegal 399 activities  relating to narcotic and psychotropic drugs  are being carried on.  Even if the petitioner has not been  able to  precisely  give particulars of such  illegal  activities concerning narcotic and psychotropic drugs, we feel that  it is  only  desirable  that the Director  General  of  Police, Madhya  Pradesh  should  cause enquiry to be  made  by  some superior  police officials of the State about the  truth  or otherwise  about  the allegations of smuggling  and  illegal activities  being carried on in the premises of an oil  mill near  the  Gurdwara  at Ratangarh in  the  State  of  Madhya Pradesh concerning narcotic and psychotropic drugs and  take appropriate action on the basis of the enquiry report.   The Registrar  General of this Court is directed to convey  only this  direction  to the Director General of  Police,  Madhya Pradesh.