The vacation bench, consisting of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, questioned whether Advocate Pandey had submitted a draft of Rs 25,000 for the PIL, as per a 2016 court order requiring Pandey to deposit this amount for filing PILs.
Uttar Pradesh: On Wednesday (June 26th): The Allahabad High Court heard a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the cancellation of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership from Rae Bareli.
Advocate Ashok Pandey, representing the petitioner Vignesh Shishir, a social activist from Karnataka, argued that Rahul Gandhi is ineligible for the Lok Sabha elections as he is allegedly a British citizen, not an Indian one.
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The vacation bench, consisting of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, questioned whether Advocate Pandey had submitted a draft of Rs 25,000 for the PIL, as per a 2016 court order requiring Pandey to deposit this amount for filing PILs.
This order was based on the finding that Pandey often files PILs for publicity.
In response to the court’s query, Advocate Pandey said,
“Sir, my cases have been heard since 2016. Justice Mathur, even CJI Chandrachud, hear the cases I file. Why is it that others pay normal court fees, but I have to deposit Rs 25,000 to file a petition?”
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The judge also objected to the petitioner Vignesh standing next to Shishir.
“Why are these PIL petitioners standing with you? What kind of dramatic scene is going on in court? Do you have to argue yourself?” When Pandey questioned what the issue was with sitting together, Justice Mathur responded, “The problem is that this place is for lawyers.” During the hearing, the judge also reprimanded a reporter and asked them to leave the courtroom to do their reporting outside.
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