India News | Delhi HC Refuses to Entertain PIL Against Eligibility Terms Set by PSUs for Empanelment of Law Firms

New Delhi, Feb 19 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the eligibility criteria set by public sector undertakings for empanelment of law firms.

A bench headed by Justice Manmohan said the concept of "standing" has been relaxed in PILs in case of aggrieved persons who are too poor or do not have the means to approach the court, but the same relaxation cannot be extended to cases wherein lawyers are stated to be the affected parties as they appear in courts daily and are fully familiar with its practice and procedure.

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The bench, also comprising Justice Navin Chawla, stated that the concept of PIL is "primarily linked to the enforcement of social and economic rights in India" and "it would not be proper or appropriate to relax the standing doctrine" to entertain the present cause as a PIL.

"The settled principle of law is that an aggrieved person must approach the court. The standing doctrine characteristic is that a potential litigant must be injured by the action it is challenging. Standing for individuals has been relaxed by the Indian courts by entertaining Public Interest Litigation in the event (of) the person aggrieved is too poor or does not have the means to approach the court," the court said in its order passed on February 17.

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"This court is of the view that the 'persons aggrieved' in the present case are lawyers or law firms, who appear in courts daily. They are fully familiar with the practice and procedure of the court and have access to the court all the time,” it added.

The petitioner, Md. Ehraz Zafar who appeared in-person before the court, argued that setting an economic criteria in terms of "turnover" for eligibility infringes the fundamental rights of lawyers under Articles 14, 16, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and was ultra vires the Advocates Act, 1961.

The petitioner submitted that the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has issued an 'e-tender for empanelment of law firms for a period of three years on open national competitive bidding basis' and added the eligibility criteria clearly stipulates that the applicants should have an average annual turnover of at least Rs 50 crore in the last three financial years.

He clarified that he did not want to apply under the e-tender but was raising the issue as a public cause.

The petitioner sought a direction to the Centre to formulate a new uniform guideline for engagement and empanelment of lawyers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)