Public interest litigation must be bona fide and specific; vague abuse of process can justify exemplary costs.

A public interest litigation must be backed by specific particulars, prior investigation, and a bona fide public interest purpose; vague pleadings or petitions filed for extraneous considerations amount to abuse of process and justify rejection. Applying that principle, the Court treated the writ petition as unjustified, found exemplary costs appropriate to deter misuse of public interest jurisdiction, and dismissed the petition with costs payable to the Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition styled as a public interest litigation was bona fide and maintainable, and whether exemplary costs were warranted.

Analysis: The petition was found to be vague and unsupported by particulars, with no prior investigation or material placed before the Court to justify public interest intervention. The Court held that a public interest litigation must be instituted by a bona fide public-spirited person acting solely in public interest, and that litigation filed for extraneous considerations or used to abuse the process of law cannot be permitted to consume judicial time. In view of the unjustified nature of the petition, the Court also considered exemplary costs appropriate to deter misuse of the public interest jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The writ petition was held to be unjustified and was dismissed with exemplary costs of Rs. 5,000 payable to the Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority.

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