HC dismisses PIL against appointment of Justice Dattu as CJI

A petition of a woman lawyer and former RAW officer challenging the appointment of Justice H L Dattu as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) was today dismissed by the Delhi High Court.
"The Presidential order has been issued. This court cannot do anything. Moreover, the petition has nothing to do with public interest," a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog said while rejecting the plea of Nisha Priya Bhatia.
In a strongly-worded order, the court said a perusal of the petition and the annexures would evince a strong belief held by the petitioner that her employer has wronged her; and it is a trait of such persons who strongly believe that they are wronged by others, to target all those whom they think are wrong in not accepting what they say.

"With passage of time the tenor of the representations to various authorities and pleadings in various proceedings filed by the petitioner have moved from persistence and have entered the zone of insolence," the bench observed.
Holding that the difference between 'assertion' and evidence is lost in her petition, the court said that her anger and contempt has turned into paranoia and delusions.
"Her grievances have steadily grown from the mundane to the grandiose, revealing grant fantasies of her ultimate vindication, unveiled dramatically before courts," it said.
The court disposed of the petition saying "any attempt by us to directly confront this misconception would be a mistake because the misconceptions are a product of intense suspicion and lengthy self-justification, and would further entrench her position if any attempt is made to confront her misconceptions. Courts are not meant for retribution.

"The relief prayed has no basis on facts and needless to state is founded on no principle of law.