PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT CHANDIGARH. *** CWP NO.8189 OF 2009 DATE OF DECISION: August 03, 2009. *** Jagmohan Singh Bhatti Advocate Vs. Union of India and Ors. *** CORAM: Hon'ble Mr. Justice T.S.Thakur, CJ and Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia. *** Present: Shri Jagmohan Singh Bhatti, Advocate, petitioner in person. *** T.S.Thakur, CJ (Oral) Civil Writ Petition No. 17487 of 2005 filed by the petitioner, who happens to be a practicing Advocate of this Court was disposed of by us by an order dated September 10, 2008 with the observation that since a similar matter is pending before the Supreme Court in which their Lordships are examining the desirability of issuing directions for manning of un-manned Railway Crossings, it was unnecessary to start parallel proceedings on the same subject matter, especially when any directions which the Supreme Court may issue would take care of the difficulties being faced in the States of Punjab and Haryana also. On the alternative plea raised by the petitioner in the said petition relating to payment of compensation to the next of kin of those killed in the accidents on such unmanned railway crossings, the petitioner had no idea whether any claim had been made to the next of kin of those killed and if so, the result of the said proceedings. This Court had however reserved liberty for the petitioner to verify the facts properly and to file a fresh petition if after verification he came to the conclusion that any one of the dependents who were killed remained to be compensated. The present writ petition has -2- CWP NO.8189 OF 2009 been filed by the petitioner to agitate the same issues once again. The petitioner has prayed for award of compensation of Rs. One crore each to the legal heirs of the deceased victims and also a mandamus to respondent No.1 to frame a policy for manning the unmanned railway crossings in the State of Punjab and Haryana. When this petition came up before us on July 16, 2009, Mr. Bhatti's attention was drawn to the order passed by us in CWP No. 17487 of 2005 referred to earlier. Mr. Bhatti however submitted that no writ petition was presently pending in the Supreme Court in relation to unmanned railway crossings. No such averments had been made in the writ petition nor was there anything on record to show that the petition earlier pending before their Lordships had been disposed of. When confronted with this position Mr. Bhatti sought a short adjournment to verify the facts again and to file an affidavit that no such Public Interest Litigation or other proceedings were pending in the Supreme Court on the subject. Mr. Bhatti has not filed any affidavit pursuant to the said direction. He submits that he has not been able to lay his hands on the orders passed by the Supreme Court nor is he in a position to state whether the petition earlier pending before their Lordships has been disposed off. If so, to what effect? We regret to say that the petitioner has taken resort to these proceedings in disregard of the fact that the earlier petition filed by him had been disposed off reserving liberty to the petitioner to file a fresh petition after verifying the true facts. The petitioner ought to have done so before filing a fresh petition. Without taking the trouble to do so, the petitioner could not once again file a petition on the same subject matter to which an earlier order is a complete answer. Even with regard to payment of compensation to the next of kin of the victims of drailway accidents, the petitioner has not furnished any -3- CWP NO.8189 OF 2009 information or particulars of those said to have been killed in such accidents or the circumstances in which they were killed. The present petition is in that view a repeat of the earlier petition which we have no hesitation in dismissing at the thrash-hold. In the ordinary course we would have imposed costs on the petitioner but keeping in view the fact that the petitioner is a practicing Advocate of this Court and appears to be espousing the cause of the victims of the accident, we refrain from doing so. Dismissed. (T.S.Thakur) Chief Justice August 03, 2009 (Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia) Malik Judge