Bombay High Court slaps ₹5 lakh costs on litigant for wasting over two hours of court time

The Bombay High Court on Thursday imposed a ₹5 lakh cost on a litigant for filing a frivolous writ petition that wasted over two and a half hours of the court's time [GB Industries Reg. Partnership v Minakshi Balasao Magdum and Ors] .The Bench, comprising Justices GS Kulkarni and Advait M Sethna criticized the litigant for abusing the legal process and harassing the respondents, particularly a widow and her family, in a land acquisition dispute related to the Kolhapur Airport."At the cost of wasting valuable time of the Court of more than 2.30 hours and at the cost of other litigants waiting for their turn, the petitioner consciously wasted the Court's time on such proceedings. We cannot overlook that in the present times when the pressure on the Court is mounting, litigants persist to assert such frivolous pleas," the Court said..The Bench also expressed concern over the rising trend of frivolous litigation, stating, “this is a new trend which we have noticed in several matters.”The Court emphasized that such practices not only waste judicial resources but also undermine the rights of legitimate claimants and the integrity of the judicial process..The case involved a dispute over land acquired for the Kolhapur Airport, owned by Minakshi Balasao Magdum, a widow, and her family. GB Industries, a registered partnership firm, had been operating on the land under a leave and license agreement that expired in March 2020.Despite the expiration of the agreement, the company sought compensation for the land and filed a petition for a writ of mandamus to prevent the dispossession of the respondents (the landowners) without compensation and to recognize the firm's alleged tenancy rights. The Court, however, found the claims to be baseless, as the firm had no legal standing since its license had expired..During the proceedings, the firm's counsel, Advocate Shrikrishna Ganbavle, argued for nearly fifty minutes, attempting to establish a legal right to the land.The Court pointed out that the litigant had previously failed to obtain an injunction in a civil suit, which sought to establish a tenant-landlord relationship, despite the clear terms of the expired license agreement.The Court emphasized that the litigant’s attempts to assert tenancy rights were unfounded and amounted to harassment of the respondents, who were entitled to compensation through the land acquisition process."The Suit as also the present Writ Petition is filed by the petitioner with the sole intention to cause harassment to respondent Nos.1 to 3 so that respondent Nos.1 to 3 (Minakshi Bagdum and family) do not receive the land acquisition compensation by negotiation," the Court found..The Court added that the abuse of legal processes by well-resourced litigants cannot be ignored when imposing costs.“Such untenable persistence of the litigant cannot be brushed aside lightly. The Court would certainly not countenance abuse of the process of law. The litigants who can afford to abuse the process of law on the strength of resources available to them to litigate, certainly would be an aspect which cannot be overlooked by the Court in dismissing such proceedings with exemplary costs," it said..The Court proceeded to order the petitioner to pay ₹5 lakhs as costs within two weeks. Failure to do so will result in the amount being recoverable as land revenue, with the firm’s assets and the personal properties of its partners potentially being attached, the Court added. .Advocate Shrikrishna Ganbavle along with Advocates Ruturaj Pawar, Dheeraj Patil appeared for the petitioner, GB IndustriesAdvocate R M Haridas along with Advocates Prasad P Kulkarni, Somanath Thongal, Ananda Chavan appeared for Minakshi Balasao Magdum and her family.Additional Government Pleader AI Patel along with Advocate MS Bane appeared for the State.Advocate Nitin Deshpande appeared for another respondent..[Read Order]