Social media information can't be part of PIL: High court

MUMBAI: Information gathered from social media cannot be part of the pleadings in a public interest litigation, the Bombay HC said on Tuesday.

A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor refused to hear a PIL filed by advocate Ajitsingh Ghorpade seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government to take measures to safeguard waterfalls and water bodies in the state.

Ghorpade's lawyer Manindra Pandey claimed that around 1,500 to 2000 persons lose their lives at unsafe waterfalls and water bodies every year, and the bench sought to know from where the petitioner had got the information.

Pandey said they had procured the information from newspapers and social media posts. The court then said that the petition was vague and did not contain many details.

The bench noted that such petitions could not be entertained as it was a "sheer wastage" of time.