The Rajasthan High Court imposed a cost of ₹50,000 on a father-in-law for filing a "baseless" writ petition seeking the removal of his daughter-in-law from the post of patwari, citing a pending FIR filed by him, accusing her of abetting his son's suicide

During the course of hearing Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand ruled that it is a well-established principle that the legal process should not be misused to settle personal grudges or serve ulterior motives. The court deemed the petitioner’s actions a clear abuse of the legal process.

Case Brief:

The Court was hearing a writ petition filed by the petitioner seeking a direction for removal of his daughter-in-law from service on the grounds that an FIR for abetment of suicide was registered against her and because of such conduct, she could not be retained in service.

The petitioner had also sent a notice to the state demanding justice, but no action was taken by the state pursuant to which the writ petition was filed before the court.

After considering the arguments, the Court noted that the relationship between the petitioner and his daughter-in-law became strained following the suicide of the petitioner’s son in 2021. This event led the petitioner to file an FIR accusing his daughter-in-law of abetting the suicide.

When the daughter-in-law got an appointment at the post of the patwari, the petitioner got aggrieved and sent a notice to the State.

The Court referred to the Supreme Court's decision in Gurpal Singh v. State of Punjab, where it was held that the judicial process should not be misused for ulterior motives. Similarly, in Chanchalpati Das v. State of West Bengal & Anr., it was emphasized that...

“just as bad coins drive out good coins from circulation, bad cases drive out good cases from being heard on time. Because of the proliferation of frivolous cases in the courts, the real and genuine cases have to take a backseat… The party who initiates and continues a frivolous, irresponsible and senseless litigation or who abuses the process of the court must be saddled with exemplary cost, so that others may deter to follow such course…”

Accordingly, it was held that the writ petition was highly misconceived and the same was dismissed with a cost of Rs. 50,000 imposed on the petitioner.

Title: Banwari Lal Swami v The Board of Revenue, Rajasthan & Ors.