Shimla, Oct 16
Himachal Pradesh High court today dismissed a civil writ petition filed against the former
Chief Minister Shanta Kumar who was allegedly charged by the petitioner for cheating people by establishing a commercial hospital in the name of charitable hospital contrary to the provisions of Indian Trusts Act .
In a 43 paged judgment passed by the division bench of justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua today the petition was dismissed terming it mischievous and has only resulted in wastage of precious Court’s time. Court said that respondents have unnecessarily been dragged into an otherwise avoidable litigation since the case was instituted against him in 2012.
The bench observed that petitioner seeks publicity and has filed this petition with an ulterior motive to settle scores as the petitioner has indulged in leveling wild and reckless allegations besmirching the character of others, more particularly, respondent former CM.
The court blaming the petitioner for delaying the litigation and wasting the time of court said that petition was dismissed with costs of Rs. 1,00,000 out of which Rs.50,000 would be paid by the petitioner to the respondents ( four and five) in equal share while the remaining amount of Rs.50,000 – will be deposited in the account of H.P. High Court Bar Association Welfare Fund within a period of two months from today.
The petitioner Bhuvnesh Chand Sood claimed to have filed this petition as probono publico(PIL) wherein it was averred that Kumar the respondent, somewhere in the year 1989-90, formed a Trust in the name of “Vivekanand Medical Research Trust’. Thereafter former CM who later became the Union Minister, started building a multi faculty hospital, which enthused the people of the area, that free and easily accessible medical facilities in multi faculty hospital would be available to them. But when the same was established the people of the area felt cheated and a fraud has been committed upon them by not establishing a charitable hospital but a commercial hospital, that too, contrary to the provisions of Indian Trusts Act.
