Madras high court imposed a cost of 50,000 on a petitioner for filing a public interest litigation seeking not to conduct the annual conference of customs and GST at a star hotel in Mamallapuram.
The court was hearing the public interest litigation filed by V M Jose, a resident of Madurai district. A division bench of Justices Paresh Upadhyay and R Vijayakumar observed that the petition, even remotely, cannot be said to be in public interest. “On the contrary, it is against the interest of the citizens of our state, which has ultimately brought only disrepute to us. Further, the petition may be perceived as an adversity on the central / state relationship as well. Such attempts need to be nipped in the bud and this petition needs to be dismissed with costs.”
The court dismissed the petition by imposing a cost of 50,000 on the petitioner payable to the secretary to government, department of finance, New Delhi. The petitioner should send the demand draft along with an apology letter within four weeks.
The petitioner had contended that it would be better to conduct such conferences in government buildings to avoid expenses and also questioned why the conference of officers of the central government should it be held in Tamil Nadu.
In his petition, the petitioner stated that he is rendering service to the society by organizing blood donation and medical camps across the state.
He stated that he planned to conduct a seminar on organ donation by bringing in delegates from the medical profession at the hotel in Mamallapuram. However, he came to know that the rooms were booked at the hotel for conducting the annual conference of customs and GST on May 5 and 6 which is to be organised by the department of revenue, central board of indirect taxes and customs, New Delhi.
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