Orissa HC cautions against misuse of PILs without supporting evidence

Bhubaneswar, Oct 8 (UNI) The Orissa High Court has warned against the misuse of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to air unsubstantiated grievances, saying petitions based on mere apprehension and unsupported claims cannot invoke its extraordinary jurisdiction. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Chittaranjan Dash made the observation while dismissing as "sans merit" a PIL challenging the proposed continuation of auction of the "Luna River Sand Sairat", a government-designated sand quarry, at Demando village under Tilakana Gram Panchayat in Cuttack district. The Bench observed that PIL petitions were increasingly being filed without supporting documents, corroborative evidence, adequate…