Petition dismissing Bombay HC Chief Justice's oath as 'defective', SC imposes fine of Rs 5 lakh on petitioner

The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on a person who challenged the 'flawed oath' taken by the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that the oath has been administered by the Governor and the membership has been taken after the oath was administered, hence such objections cannot be raised. The top court further said in the hearing that this was only a frivolous attempt by the petitioner to exercise public interest litigation jurisdiction.

The top court was hearing a PIL filed by Ashok Pandey. It said he was aggrieved by the 'defective oath' given to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. The petitioner said that the Chief Justice did not use the word 'I' before his name while taking oath in violation of the Third Schedule of the Constitution. He also argued that representatives and administrators of the Government of Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were not invited to the oath-taking ceremony.

The bench said during the hearing that 'the petitioner cannot dispute that the oath of office was administered to the right person. The oath has been administered by the Governor and membership has been taken after the oath was administered, hence such objections cannot be raised.

The bench further said 'We are of the clear view that such frivolous PILs divert the time and attention of the Court, thereby diverting the attention of the Court from more serious matters and consuming the judicial manpower and infrastructure of the Court Registry. ' Justice JB Pastorwala and Justice Manoj Mishra were also included in the bench.

During the hearing, the bench said that now is the time for the court to impose exemplary penalties on such frivolous PILs. The bench said, 'We accordingly dismiss the petition with costs of Rs 5,00,000, which the petitioner has to deposit in the registry of this Court within a period of four weeks.'The apex court said that if within the given period the fine is not deposited, it will be collected as arrears of land revenue through the Collector and District Magistrate in Lucknow.