Kerala HC directs new Congress legislator to act, disposes of PIL

Kochi, July 28 The Kerala High Court on Monday disposed of a PIL filed by newly elected Nilambur Congress legislator Aryadan Shoukath for the betterment of tribal people residing in the Nilambur Taluk with the observation that the MLA himself should take steps to address the issues raised in his petition.

Shoukath had filed the PIL in 2023 seeking a direction to the chief of the Tribal monitoring committee to inspect the tribal colonies in a few village councils around Nilambur, as it was in a bad shape.

The court was hearing his petition seeking his name be deleted from the PIL, but the court asked his counsel, “Why delete? He should now do this work. We'll entrust him with this task," observed the division bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji.

However, the counsel sought to withdraw the case. The court has refused to allow the petitioner to withdraw the PIL and orally observed, “You are an MLA, now you want to withdraw? You do it, you fail, you come back. You can't withdraw from the petition. You are now in a better position as you are an elected representative of the area. You take up this task...Please don't ask us. Don't force us to make further observations. We were surprised that you want to withdraw the petition," pointed out the court.

The court disposed of the PIL by stating that this petition is filed about the human rights violations and conditions of tribals.

“Various issues have been raised in this petition, which are towards achieving and securing basic necessities of life and social justice of tribals in the area,” it said.

The court also observed that the prayers in the petition are also regarding taking effective steps to build a bridge across the river, adding that this is a task which is to be carried out by the local authorities, state government, and the elected representatives.

“Now that the petitioner has been elected as MLA, he would be in a better position to address the issue he himself has raised in this petition. Therefore, we are of the opinion that this task should be taken forward by him in his new capacity,” the court observed.

--IANS

sg/dan

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