Can A PIL Be Turned Private When A Case Nears Its End? MP HC Says It Is Abuse Of Process, Imposes Costs

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has imposed costs of Rs 10,000 on a petitioner who, after keeping an irrigation dam project in Seoni district stalled for seven years, sought to convert his own public interest litigation into a private petition, holding that the move amounted to an “abuse of the process of law”.

A division bench of Chief Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain disposed of the petition filed by Rishi Parashar as withdrawn on November 4, 2026, after his counsel sought permission to withdraw it.

The petition, filed in 2019, concerned the Patan Kanera Irrigation Project. Parashar had asked the Court to direct the State to build the project according to the layout plan he relied on, to set aside an order dated September 16, 2019, and to direct an independent inspection before the sanctioned plan was cancelled. He had also sought production of the records relating to letters and reports dated June 11 and June 24, 2019.

The bench noted that an earlier petition, W.P. No. 13382/2019, had been disposed of on July 19, 2019, with a direction to file a fresh representation before the State, to be decided along with any objections.

Going through the reports on record, the Court found that the Executive Engineer, Water Resources Survey Division, Seoni, inspected the site on March 16, 1981, and the proposed location was marked in Topo Sheet No. 55N/6. The site was inspected again in 2015 and the State sanctioned the project on November 16, 2015.

Administrative approval followed on November 2, 2017, for irrigating 410 hectares at an estimated cost of Rs 948.35 lakh. The work was entrusted to contractor M/s Arjun Singh Baghel under an agreement dated January 29, 2018.

Reading the records together, the bench held that the site selected in 1981 and in 2015/2016 was “one and the same” and that there was no change in the location of the proposed dam. The Court observed that it was an important water resources project for Seoni, which “has not progressed at all”.

From Public Interest to Private Interest

On November 19, 2024, the Court had allowed an application filed by Parashar himself to convert the petition into a PIL. That order recorded that he had no personal interest in the matter and had approached the Court “in the interest of public at large”. The registry was directed to place it before the appropriate bench.

The matter was heard as a PIL on October 6, 2026, and, after some arguments, was listed for November 4. On that day, an application dated October 26, 2026 was also listed, seeking to reclassify the PIL as a regular writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.

The bench was unimpressed. It said it was “at pains to observe” that a dam meant for larger public interest had been “stalled since 2019 by filing of this petition”.

The Court pointed out that the project had stood the test of technicalities while the petition was pending, and that when the matter was at the “verge of the conclusion”, the petitioner moved an application “exactly contrary to a previous application”. In doing so, it said, he was “not realizing the harm that the litigation has already caused to the public interest”.

Since counsel was seeking to withdraw the petition, the bench said it was refraining from making strict observations against the petitioner. It nonetheless considered it fit to impose costs of Rs 10,000 “for the abuse of the process of law”.

The petition was accordingly disposed of as withdrawn. The costs must be paid to the M.P. State Legal Aid Services Authority within 30 days, and a compliance report has to be submitted before the Registrar (Judicial).

Advocate Krishna Kumar Pandey, with Advocate Ashmita Chand, appeared for the petitioner. Government Advocate Dr. Siddharth Singh Chouhan represented the respondent State. Advocate Alok Vagrecha, with Advocate Abhinesh Soni, appeared for the intervenor.

Case Title: Rishi Parashar vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others

Order Date: November 4, 2026

Bench: Chief Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain