In a significant development at the apex court, advocate Sachin Gupta has moved to withdraw a total of 47 separate Public Interest Litigations (PILs) after facing sharp criticism from the bench. On Thursday, Gupta sought the Supreme Court’s permission to withdraw the remaining 17 of his 47 pleas, stating his intention to first approach the relevant administrative authorities.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Panchol accepted the withdrawal. Appearing as the petitioner-in-person, Gupta informed the court, “I am withdrawing the petitions. I will approach the authorities.”
The withdrawal comes on the heels of a series of hearings where the court expressed deep dissatisfaction with the nature of Gupta’s litigation. The lawyer had previously been reprimanded for filing “vague, frivolous, and baseless” petitions.
The most notable rebuke occurred on March 9, when the Supreme Court dismissed five of Gupta’s PILs. One such petition sought a scientific study to determine if onion and garlic contain “tamasic” (negative) energy. Visibly displeased by the nature of the plea, Chief Justice Surya Kant questioned the lawyer’s drafting process.
“Aadhi raat ko yeh sab petition draft karte ho kya? (Do you draft all these petitions in the middle of the night?)” the CJI asked, trashing the petitions as frivolous.
Among the other dismissed pleas was a petition seeking regulations on allegedly harmful content in alcohol and tobacco products.
The court’s stance remained consistent during a subsequent hearing on April 10, when 25 of Gupta’s separate PILs were listed. On that occasion, the bench advised Gupta that he should exhaust administrative remedies by approaching the concerned authorities rather than “rushing to the court.”
The bench noted that the court might entertain such petitions at an “appropriate stage” only if a genuine need arose after administrative channels were explored. Following this observation, the top court allowed Gupta to withdraw those 25 petitions.
With the withdrawal of the final 17 pleas on Thursday, the lawyer has now pulled back all 47 litigations he had filed, signaling a conclusion to a series of filings that the court had characterized as an abuse of the PIL process.
