Once a PIL is filed and heard, it cannot be allowed to be withdrawn, the Supreme Court said on Friday as it decided to hear on Monday a lawyer’s plea that he was getting threats for filing a PIL, seeking the entry of girls and women in the historic Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
“Let people know this that once a public interest litigation (PIL) is filed and entertained, you cannot withdraw it,” a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and NV Ramana said.
The observation came when Naushad Ahmed Khan, president of the Indian Young Lawyers’ Association (IYLA), which has filed the PIL on Sabarimala issue, sought urgent hearing of the matter, saying that he had recently received 500 threatening phone calls and asked to withdraw the PIL.
The Bench said it may think of appointing an amicus curiae to assist the court in the case and the question of the right of women would be decided “constitutionally” and the plea cannot be withdrawn like this. The IYLA has sought entry for women and girls in the temple, where girls after attaining puberty are not allowed to enter. Women who have reached the menopause stage are only permitted inside the shrine.