The Hon’ble Supreme Court on 11.06.2020 imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs Only) upon the Petitioner, a social worker who filed a Writ Petition seeking a ban on the sale of beverages such as Coca Cola, Thumbs Up. The three-judge bench comprising Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, Hemant Gupta, Ajay Rastogi while hearing the petition Umedsinh P Chavda vs. Union of India and Others observed that the Petitioner Umedsinh P Chavda has filed the petition without having any technical knowledge on the subject. Further, Hon’ble Bench said that the petition is filed for extraneous reasons and invocation of the jurisdiction under Article 32 is an abuse of the process. The Bench also observed that the Petitioner’s source of assertion has not been substantiated, further he also failed to submit an explanation as why only these two brands were targeted for proceedings.

The Hon’ble Bench after hearing the Mr. S. P. Singh counsel for the Petitioner concluded that the invocation of the jurisdiction under Article 32 was not bona fide subject to Public Interest Litigation, thus dismissed the petition and opined that imposition of exemplary cost is necessary. The Bench gave one-month time period to Petitioner to deposit the amount in the Registry. The Bench further, directed that the amount deposited shall be disbursed to the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA). The bench also directed that in case of failure of compliance of order the Registry shall make an official report seeking directions.

Order:Umedsinh_Chavda_vs_UOI

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