The Supreme Court on Friday expressed concern over the "mushroom growth" of public interest litigations and said frivolous PILs should be nipped in the bud so that the developmental activities are not affected.

A vacation bench of Justices B R Gavai and Hima Kohli observed while dismissing petitions against construction activities at the famed Shree Jagannath temple in Puri.

The top court said most of the petitions are either publicity interest litigations or personal interest litigation.

"In the recent past, it is noticed that there is a mushroom growth of public interest litigations. However, in many of such petitions, there is no public interest involved at all. The petitions are either publicity interest litigations or personal interest litigation. We highly deprecate the practice of filing such frivolous petitions. They are nothing but an abuse of the process of law.

"They encroach upon a valuable judicial time which could be otherwise utilised for considering genuine issues. It is high time that such so-called public interest litigations are nipped in the bud so that the developmental activities in the larger public interest are not stalled," the bench said.

The top court said construction activity carried out by the Odisha government at Shree Jagannath temple in Puri to provide basic and essential amenities like toilets and cloakrooms are necessary for the larger public interest.