Rahul Kumar vs Municipal Corporation of Delhi

MANMOHAN, ACJ : (ORAL)

By order dated 16th July, 2024, petitioner was directed to be personally present in the Court today. Though the petitioner is not present, yet Mr. Vivek Kr. Srivastava, Enrolment No. D/1597/2012, Conference Hall, C.K. Daphtary Block, Supreme Court of India, enters appearance on his behalf.

On 01st July, 2024, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent/ MCD had stated that petitioner had perfected the 'art of exploiting' respondents by filing Public Interest Litigations qua unauthorized constructions. He had further stated that most of the time the petitions were filed with the Registry only and not even listed in Court and he had also handed over a chart of ten matters that were served upon MCD but were not got listed in 2023 by the petitioner. The same is reproduced hereinbelow:-

It may be mentioned that out of the aforesaid ten matters, it has been informed by the Registry that the matter at serial number 10 was listed in the Court as W.P. (C) 9012/2023 and had been disposed of on 14^th September, 2023. As regards Item no. 1, the petitioner has stated in his affidavit that the same was wrong and he had never filed any such petition. He has further stated that since the matters at serial numbers 2 to 10 had already been taken up by the concerned authority/ authorities, there was no need to pursue the said matters.

Further, two other charts were also reproduced in the said order dated 1^st July, 2024 which showed the matters that were served upon MCD but not listed in 2023 and during April 2024 to June 2024.

According to the petitioner's affidavit, all the writ petitions except WP(C) 6177/2023 and WP(C) 4593/2023 have already been disposed of and the WP(C) – of 2024 is lying under objection, which he will remove as early as possible. However, Registry informed that WP(C) 6177/2023 and WP(C) 4593/2023 had been disposed of on 19^th October, 2023 and 24^th September, 2023 respectively and the same are listed for compliance on 24^th July, 2024 and 10^th July, 2024 respectively.

Learned counsel for the respondent/ MCD has also furnished a chart of forty-two (42) matters which have been filed by the petitioner since March, 2021.

Pertinently, on verification from the Registry, it is revealed that out of the said list of forty two (42) matters, only seventeen (17) matters were listed in the Court and the remaining twenty five (25) matters were not listed in the Court. The Registry, has on enquiry, informed that the said matters were not filed with it. The chart furnished by the Registry is reproduced herein below:-

It is also revealed that in the matters which were listed before the Court, the petitioner or his counsel did not appear on several dates in most of the matters and some of these matters were disposed of either on the report submitted by MCD or directions were issued to approach the Special Task Force (STF). One matter was dismissed in default and for non-prosecution.

The petitioner has submitted a list of following thirty three (33) cases by e-mail dated 18^th July, 2024 which have been filed by him over a period of time:-

Out of the said list, matters at serial nos. 13 to 26 are already mentioned in the chart reproduced above. The Registry has given a report in respect of matters at serial nos. 1 to 12 which also reveals that most of the cases were either dismissed in default or were disposed of with a direction to the petitioner to approach the appropriate Committee. The chart furnished by the Registry in respect of matters mentioned at serial numbers 1 to 12 is reproduced herein below:-

The petitioner in the said list has also furnished details of seven matters (from serial nos. 27 to 33) which have not been listed.

Out of these seven (7) matters, items at serial nos. 30 to 33 (bearing diary No.W.P(C) Diary No.1755375/2024, W.P(C) Diary No.1604317/2024, W.P(C) Diary No.1604316/2024 and W.P(C) Diary No.1604315/2024) are those about which the Registry has reported that they are lying in objection.

As regards the matters at serial numbers 27 to 29 (bearing diary No. W.P(C) Diary No.33679/2016, W.P(C) Diary No.173610/2018 and W.P(C) Diary No.118824/2018) the Registry has reported that the said matters were returned on account of objections and have not been re-filed.

The petitioner has been filing writ petitions pertaining to individual properties in the same locality instead of bunching them and claiming that he has no personal interest in the litigation and that the petition is not guided by self-gain or for gain of any other person/ institution/ body and there is no other motive than public interest.

Despite that, in most of the matters, the petitioner or his counsel failed to appear during the hearings or the petitioner failed to get most of the matters listed after serving the advance notice of the petition on the MCD and/ or the private respondents.

In these circumstances, the apprehensions raised by the learned counsel for the respondent/ MCD cannot be overlooked. To rule out any apprehension, this Court deems it appropriate to direct a proper inquiry to be conducted in the matter. Accordingly, CBI is directed to conduct a preliminary enquiry to ascertain whether any cognizable offence has been committed and if so, by whom. The CBI is directed to submit the report of preliminary enquiry on or before the next date of hearing.

The petitioner is also directed to cooperate with the CBI in the matter.

A copy of the order be sent to the Director, CBI for compliance.

List on 04^th September, 2024.