The Calcutta High Court has upheld the maintainability of public interest litigations alleging that the Great Nicobar Project violates the Forest Rights Act, Live Law reported on Friday.
Rejecting the Union government’s objection that the petitioner did not have the legal capacity to file the plea as she not a resident of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen said that there can be “no thumb rule” regarding locus standi in public interest litigations.
The bench said that the courts must permit genuine public causes concerning vulnerable communities to be raised even by persons who are not directly affected, the legal news outlet reported.
The bench added that the law provides that “if a person or class of persons by reason of poverty, helplessness or disability or socially or economically disadvantageous positions, is unable to approach to court for relief, for redressal of their grievance, any member of the public can approach the court”.
It said: “The tribal population in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a very vulnerable tribal groups and they are ordinarily not accessible to common men.”
The Great Nicobar Project includes the construction of new townships, a power plant, a greenfield international airport and a transshipment port.
It is expected to use 166 sq km...
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