Ahmedabad

The total number of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions heard by the Gujarat High Court annually has seen a constant decline during last two years.

In the year 2013 the total number of PIL heard by the court was 350 while that in 2014 was only 335 and last year it came down to 266, as per the official records.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi attributed this decline to the strict implementation of ‘The High Court of Gujarat [Practice
and Procedure for Public Interest Litigation] Rules, 2010’. The rule made by the court exercising its power conferred by article 225 of the constitution provides for stricter scrutiny for admitting a PIL for hearing. It does not allow PIL with vested interest and other lacunae.

The number of PIL heard in 2011 was 195 which rose to 276 in 2012 and 350 the next year before the decline began.

– DeshGujarat