Supreme Court for exemplary fine for frivolous PILs

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has asked all courts to impose “exemplary costs“ on people who file frivolous petitions, saying such litigation “chokes“ the judicial system.

A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice S K Kaul said liberal access to justice had led to chaos and indiscipline. “The sanctity of the judicial process will be seriously eroded if such attempts are not dealt with firmly . A litigant who takes liberties with the truth or with the procedures of the court should be left in no doubt about the consequences to follow,“ the bench said.

Justice Chandrachud, who wrote the judgment, said exemplary costs were inevitable and even necessary.


“Frivolous and groundless filing constitute a serious menace to the administration of justice. They consume time and clog the infrastructure. Productive resources, which should be deployed in the handling of genuine causes, are dissipated in attending to cases filed only to benefit from delay, by prolonging dead issues and pursuing worthless causes,“ the judgment said.

The court issued the order while imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh on a tenant who refused to abide by a Bombay high court order to vacate a property and filed multiple applications to delay the implementation of the court's order.

“This tendency can be curbed only if courts across the system adopt an institutional approach which penalises such behaviour,“ the bench said, adding, “Unless remedial action is taken by all courts here and now, our society will breed a legal culture based on evasion instead of abidance. It is the duty of every court to firmly deal with such situations.“