The Supreme Court today imposed costs of ₹1,50,000 on a builder for filing a petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution seeking a writ of mandamus to the Bombay High Court to dispose of a 2019 appeal within a time-bound schedule.
The bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal noted that 15-20 years old appeals were pending before the High Court where the builder’s appeal was also pending.
Therefore, the apex court, slammed the petitioner’s attempt to jump the queue, stating that a litigant who can afford to approach the Supreme Court can’t be prioritized over other litigants. It added that this was nothing but an abuse of the process of law.
The Court stated, “We deprecate the attempt made by the petitioner to jump the queue by approaching this Court in this manner. A litigant who can afford to approach this Court in this manner cannot get priority over other older cases. Filing such petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India is nothing but an abuse of the process of law.”
After arguing the petition, counsel for the petitioner sought permission to withdraw the plea.
Then, the Court permitted withdrawal but imposed costs of ₹1,50,000 payable by the petitioner to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority within 6 weeks.
