Bombay HC Imposes ₹5 Lakh Cost for Wasting 2.5 Hours of Court Time with Frivolous Petition
The Bombay High Court recently imposed a cost of ₹5 lakh on a litigant for filing a frivolous writ petition, which unnecessarily consumed over two and a half hours of the court's time. The case involved a dispute regarding land acquired for the Kolhapur Airport, owned by Minakshi Balasao Magdum, a widow, and her family. The land had been leased to GB Industries, a registered partnership firm, under a leave and license agreement, which had expired in March 2020. Despite the expiration of the agreement, GB Industries filed a writ petition claiming compensation for the land and asserting tenancy rights, seeking to prevent the landowners from being dispossessed without compensation.
Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Advait M Sethna, who heard the case, expressed concern about the increasing trend of frivolous litigation, emphasizing that such actions waste valuable judicial resources and infringe on the rights of legitimate claimants. “At the cost of wasting valuable time of the Court of more than 2.30 hours and at the cost of other litigants waiting for their turn, the petitioner consciously wasted the Court's time on such proceedings. We cannot overlook that in the present times when the pressure on the Court is mounting, litigants persist to assert such frivolous pleas,” the Court observed.
The Court rejected the firm's claims, stating that its license had expired and that the firm had no legal basis to assert tenancy rights. Advocate Shrikrishna Ganbavle represented the petitioner, while Advocate R.M. Haridas appeared for the respondents. The firm’s counsel spent nearly fifty minutes arguing, but the Court pointed out that the firm had already failed in a previous civil suit, where it attempted to establish a tenant-landlord relationship, which was unsupported by the expired license agreement.
The Court concluded that the writ petition, along with the prior suit, was filed with the sole purpose of harassing the landowners and delaying their compensation for the land acquisition. The Court remarked, “Such untenable persistence of the litigant cannot be brushed aside lightly. The Court would certainly not countenance abuse of the process of law. The litigants who can afford to abuse the process of law on the strength of resources available to them to litigate, certainly would be an aspect which cannot be overlooked by the Court in dismissing such proceedings with exemplary costs.”
As a result, the Court imposed a ₹5 lakh cost on GB Industries, directing that the amount be paid within two weeks. The Court further warned that failure to comply would lead to the amount being recovered as land revenue, and the firm’s assets or its partners’ personal properties could be attached.
Case Title: GB Industries Reg. Partnership v. Minakshi Balasao Magdum & Ors.
Date: November - 28 - 2024
Bench: Justice GS Kulkarni, Justice Advait M Sethna
[Read/Download order]
