Punjab and Haryana High Court held that Kuljit Singh Bedi’s plea over Mohali tender works was a personal cause presented as a public cause and dismissed the PIL with ₹25,000 costs.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation filed by Kuljit Singh Bedi in Kuljit Singh Bedi v. State of Punjab and others, CWP-PIL-30-2026 (O&M). The Court held that the matter raised a personal cause disguised as a public cause. It therefore found the petition not maintainable as a PIL and imposed costs of ₹25,000. The order was passed on 07.04.2026 by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry.
The petition assailed certain tender processes, especially those concerning the up-gradation, resurfacing and beautification of roads and junctions in Mohali under Mohali’s Next Generation Programme. The order records that, on the previous date of hearing, the Court had asked the petitioner to disclose his political affiliation, following which an affidavit was filed.
During the hearing, the Bench noted that page 9 of the petition contained a table stating that the horticulture work of a 45 meters wide road in Medicity, New Chandigarh, was being carried out by the petitioner, while other works were being carried out by other contractors. When the Court put a pointed query to the petitioner’s counsel on whether this disclosure reflected the petitioner’s personal interest, counsel submitted that the statement had been reproduced from another document and that the disclosure showing the petitioner carrying out the horticulture work was factually incorrect.
The High Court, however, recorded that the pleadings in the writ petition did not support the explanation that the disclosure was factually incorrect. The Bench also noted that the affidavit stated that the petitioner had made several representations, but none of those representations had been placed on record.
In these circumstances, the Court said it was not inclined to grant any further time to the petitioner. It then held that it had “no hesitation” in concluding that the cause raised in the case was “in fact, a personal cause camouflaged as a public cause.” On that basis, the Court held that the petition, as framed as a PIL, was not maintainable.
The petition was accordingly dismissed with costs of ₹25,000, to be deposited with the PGI Poor Patient Welfare Fund, Chandigarh, within 15 days. The order records the appearance of Mr. Chirag Girdhar, Advocate, and Mr. Amanveer Singh, Advocate, for the petitioner. It also records the appearance of Mr. Maninderjit Singh Bedi, Advocate General, Punjab; Mr. Maninder Singh, Senior Advocate, assisted by Mr. Salil Sabhlok, Senior DAG, Punjab; Mr. Rajeev Madaan, Advocate; and Mr. Sangam Garg, Advocate.
