Kochi, December 4: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reprimanded BJP state general secretary Sobha Surendran for filing a 'baseless' public interest litigation (PIL) against the alleged police action in Sabarimala. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh, also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Sobha Surendran, leaving her embarrassed in an open court. She then apologised and withdrew the petition.

Surendran, through her lawyer, filed a PIL, alleging that the state police was harassing devotees of Lord Ayappa at Sabarimala temple. However, the high court found allegations baseless and observed that the petition was filed to seek publicity. The court also asked Surendran's lawyer if she filed the petition as a publicity stunt, reported India Today.

After facing flak, Surendran's lawyer said she was willing to withdraw the petition. While the court allowed the withdrawal, it imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the BJP leader for wasting the time of the court with baseless allegations. The amount will be sent to Kerala Legal Services Authority.

In October, after taking oath as 46th Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi had pitched for strict parameters for urgent mentioning and hearing of cases. "Unless someone is going to be hanged today or evicted out of his house, no other matter can be mentioned for urgent hearing," the CJI had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 06:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).