Prayagraj: Terming the PIL a “publicity interest litigation”, the Allahabad high court on Friday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging a notice allegedly issued to Amroha authorities to keep meat shops closed during the Shrawan month.The petitioner sought permission for shops located outside the kanwar yatra route to remain open. It was alleged that shopkeepers selling non-vegetarian food were being harassed and compelled to close their establishments between July 30 and Aug 24, 2026, during the kanwar yatra.According to the petitioner, a blank notice, purportedly signed by the incharge inspector of Amroha Nagar police station, had been served on shopkeepers.Dismissing the PIL filed by Nasir Farooq, a division bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra observed: “Nowhere in the petition have the names of the shopkeepers, on whom the notices are alleged to have been served, been disclosed. If the notices have been served and enforced on any shop owner, the shopkeepers themselves have the cause to question the validity of the notice/action.”The court said: “The petitioner, an advocate, is seeking to project the case of the shopkeepers, which apparently is mala fide. The same petitioner has made representations seeking closure of liquor shops on the kanwar yatra route. The intention, apparently, has been to misuse the PIL jurisdiction for reasons best known to the petitioner.”The bench added: “Filing petitions of the present nature without pleading an actual cause, producing supporting material, and publicising their filing essentially amounts to Publicity Interest Litigation and not Public Interest Litigation, which conduct of the petitioner cannot be countenanced.”The petition alleged that meat shops outside the kanwar route in Amroha city had been closed by the police, causing hardship to traders. It further claimed that an undated notice stated meat shops would remain closed only on the four Mondays of the Shrawan month, but policemen were allegedly not allowing them to open on any day.
