Prayagraj: Observing that an advocate cannot become a PIL petitioner to advance a client’s cause as it may amount to professional misconduct, the Allahabad high court has dismissed as withdrawn a PIL seeking a direction to authorities to supply natural gas connections to industries based on guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Petroleum.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra observed, “Filing of the petition by an advocate, purportedly in public interest, with the assertion that he is a legal advisor to some industries and that the industries have authorized him to handle matters before the industrial authorities, necessarily takes the petition out of the purview of public interest.”While indicating his credentials in the PIL, Surendra Kumar Sharma, had stated that he is a practising lawyer in Firozabad and a legal advisor to some industries and that he handles industrial matters before the industrial authorities. Taking into account his disclosure, the court remarked that the filing of a PIL petition by an advocate, who is the legal advisor of some industries, takes the petition out of the purview of a public interest.“An advocate who is approached by his clients for redressal of the grievance, cannot be permitted to become a petitioner and file PIL advancing the cause of his clients,” the court observed.Noting that the conduct may amount to professional misconduct, the high court, in its decision dated Apr 8, dismissed the PIL petition as withdrawn, warning the petitioner not to indulge in similar adventure in future.
