Coming down heavily on a petitioner for misusing the public interest litigation jurisdiction of the court by filing a malafide litigation, the Rajasthan High Court imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner, to be deposited within the next 30 days.
The Division Bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Kuldeep Mathur dismissed the PIL questioning the alleged encroachment on land of public park situated at Karda Road Awasiya Colony, Bhinmal, Jalore.
The private respondents have filed reply to the petition with a pertinent assertion that the land in question was khatedari land, which was acquired by the Municipality, Bhinmal for establishing a residential colony. The plot in question was allotted to the respondents in 1988 by way of compensation.
Attention of the Court is drawn to the order dated April 20, 2022, passed by the Civil Judge, Bhinmal, whereby the Civil Court has rejected the application for temporary injunction, filed against the answering respondents. The Court is, however, apprised that an appeal has been filed against such order.
The Division Bench held that be that as it may. The fact remains that a civil suit has been filed in relation to the plot in relation whereto the instant PIL has been filed.
The order rejecting the prayer for interim order was passed by the Civil Court way back in the month of September, 2020.
A notice was issued by the Municipality, Bhinmal to the petitioner turning down their objections qua construction of boundary wall on this very plot.
While one petitioner approached the Civil Court against the said notice, the petitioners herein, very conveniently concealing all these facts, filed the instant PIL.
The Court was prima facie of the view that the PIL has been filed for malafide motive and suffered from blatant concealment and misstatement of facts.
“It is, thus, apparent that the petitioners have tried to misuse the public interest litigation jurisdiction of this court by filing this malafide litigation. Once the Civil Court is ceased regarding the dispute over the plot in question, this Court would be loathe to interfere in the matter while exercising the public interest writ jurisdiction’, observed the Court.
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Thus, the High Court dismissed the petition with a cost of Rs 50,000.
“The petitioners shall deposit the cost amount with the Registrar(Judicial), Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur within the next 30 days, failing which, appropriate steps shall be taken for recovery of the same. The cost so deposited shall be appropriated in the funds of the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority, Jodhpur,”
-the Bench directed.