‘Don’t file a petition without evidence’: HC tells litigant

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday advised a litigant that he should not file public interest litigation without making any evidence and dismissed the petition as withdrawn. The petitioner sought a direction to show a statutory warning alert while screening the violent scenes in the movies.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala made these observations on dismissing a plea filed by an advocate named Gopi Krishnan, a resident of Kolathur in Chennai.

The petitioner claimed that actors encourage violent scenes in their movies to attract their fans to the theaters and it affects the many youths. “Without knowing the dramatic nature of the violent scenes, many youths are following the same and committing crime. After seeing the violent scenes, school and college students are keeping weapons in their bags,” the petitioner submitted.

Rejecting those contentions, the CJ asked the petitioner to show the evidence.

“The Supreme Court has already ruled that PILs should not be filed by advocates. Also, the petition has been filed without showing any material evidence. Therefore, we are about to dismiss the plea with costs,” the CJ observed.

On hearing the court, the petitioner submitted that he is withdrawing his petition. The bench granted liberty to withdraw the petition and dismissed the same as withdrawn.

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