On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court levied a fine of ₹10,000 against a litigant who attempted to challenge the Court's dismissal of a public interest litigation (PIL) targeting the mobile application Truecaller.

The review petition filed by petitioner Ajay Shukla was dismissed by a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora. After the same bench rejected the mail petition on February 12, Shukla subsequently requested a review of the decision.

Shukla's plea alleged that Truecaller's service, which discloses the identity of a caller from an unknown number, violates privacy rights by divulging information about third parties without their consent.

His argument contended that Truecaller accesses a user's phonebook, subsequently revealing not only the identities but also the addresses, emails, and other personal details of individuals who haven't consented to Truecaller's terms and conditions.

It was argued that the functionality offered by the application was also leading to reputational harm, as contact numbers could be labeled as 'spam'. However, Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Shashank Garg, representing the Union government, informed the Court that the PIL appeared to be more of a 'publicity interest litigation', noting that the petitioner had previously brought the same plea before the Supreme Court, where it was dismissed.

The High Court dismissed the petition on February 12, observing that the Supreme Court had previously dismissed the plea without allowing the petitioner the opportunity to approach the High Court. The Court remarked, "This petition amounts to re-litigation. This will amount to abuse of process. Nothing about the Supreme Court proceedings has been disclosed in this writ petition. That is the beauty of it." Subsequently, Shukla filed a review plea, leading the Court to impose costs.