Supreme Court imposes Rs 1 lakh costs on advocate for frivolous PIL

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jul 11, 2017 :  A lawyer on Monday incurred the wrath of the Supreme Court which slapped a hefty fine of Rs one lakh on him for filing a “frivolous” petition and wasting judicial time.

“You have filed a PIL having 160 pages. I read it once and could not understand, and then I read again. What is your problem? We want to know what you are asking for,” a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said.

Advocate Raj Balam Sharma, who had filed the PIL in his personal capacity, said he wanted all colonial laws to go and the process of abolishing them be monitored by the apex court.

“Which colonial law is creating the problem,” the bench, which also had Justice D Y Chandrachud, asked.

All laws are colonial laws, the lawyer responded.

“We have found nothing in the petition. You are wasting your own time and you cannot waste the court’s time. We will impose heavy cost on you... Tell us how much cost we should impose for this frivolous petition,” the bench said.

The apex court, which has been harsh on litigants for filing frivolous pleas, then imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on the lawyer and asked him to deposit the money with the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) within four weeks.

It said that SCBA would use the fine amount in upgrading its library.

While dismissing the PIL, the bench ordered its Registry to re-list the plea before it after four weeks if the lawyer failed to deposit the fine.

Courtesy: Hindustantimes.com