The Allahabad High Court recently penalised a petitioner by imposing a cost of ₹1 lakh for filing a writ petition that was found to contain false averments and suppression of material facts. The bench, which included Justices Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Jayant Banerji, held that the petitioner had misled the court by omitting several key factual details from the petition, which were essential to a proper adjudication.
In its order, the Court noted that the petition concerned the restoration of possession of certain factory machinery that the petitioner claimed was wrongfully seized. However, upon examining the record, the Court discovered that the petitioner did not disclose that the machinery belonged to a proprietorship concern registered in his wife’s name, nor did he provide any documentation indicating the business was properly registered under applicable laws such as the GST or factories regime. These omissions struck the Court as deliberate and material, undermining the petitioner’s credibility.
Characterising the writ petition as “misconceived” and legally untenable, the Court dismissed it outright. Further, to deter such misuse of judicial process in future, the Court ordered that the petitioner must deposit ₹1 lakh with the High Court Legal Services Committee within two weeks. The Court emphasised that filing a writ petition with significant factual suppression or misrepresentation is not only an abuse of its process but also needs to be discouraged through appropriate costs.
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