Gujarat High Court: In a petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution seeking to quash the order passed by the Trial Court wherein a cost of Rs 25,000 was imposed on the petitioner, a Single Judge Bench of Maulik J. Shelat, J., partly allowed the petition holding that the cost imposed was exorbitant and not in consonance with any misconduct on the petitioner’s part. Thus, the Court reduced the cost to Rs 15,000 and highlighted that the Court could indeed impose a cost for frivolous applications, but such cost should be reasonable and not unbearable, keeping in mind other factors such as the conduct of parties.
Background
It was contended that the petitioner had filed a review application, which was rejected by the Trial Court with a cost of Rs 25,000 to be paid to the District Legal Services Authority. The petitioner contended that not only was the cost exorbitant and not germane to the application but also the order did not note that any fraud was committed by the petitioner. Further, due to the non-payment of cost, the petitioner was not able to file an appeal before the District Court as the Registry insisted on first depositing the cost.
Analysis and Decision
The Court noted that prima facie, it appeared that the Trial court rejected the review application because it was not satisfied that there was any error apparent on the face of the record. Thereafter, for consuming judicial time in an application that was bereft of any merit, the application was rejected with the aforementioned cost.
Upon examining the facts and aspect of cost, the Court noted that the Trial Court, while imposing a cost, did not conclude that the review application filed by the petitioner was vexatious or false. The Court stated, “It is true that no case might have been made out for review, and thereby, the time of the Civil Court must have been consumed to decide such an application, but at the same time, the right available to the party cannot be taken away by the Court, as all concerned, including the Court, are governed by the law.” The Court remarked that it was deplorable that in the absence of payment of cost, the petitioner was deprived of even filing a regular first appeal before the District Court concerned, despite there being no such observation made in the impugned order to that effect.
The Court further stated, “Whenever the Court feels that a litigant has consumed the time of the Court by filing frivolous litigation, then surely the Court has the power to impose a cost. Nonetheless, such a cost should be reasonable and not unbearable to the litigant. All other factors, including the conduct of the parties while pursuing legal remedies, are required to be taken note of by the Court concerned before imposing the cost.”
Considering the facts and circumstances, especially when there were no findings recorded by the Trial Court to the effect that the impugned application was vexatious, the Court held that the cost imposed was exorbitant and not in consonance with the misconduct on the petitioner’s part, if any.
The Court further held that when there was no prohibition in the impugned order to pay the cost to file any substantive appeal or any other proceedings permissible in law, the Registry should not insist upon such deposit, thereby denying the right of the litigant to file any such appeal or proceedings. It was always to be decided by the Appellate Court and other competent Courts regarding the aspect of cost when such appeals or any other proceedings were put forth.
The Court also remarked that in the present case, the judgment and decree challenged by the petitioner were passed in 2021, and now there would be a delay in filing a first appeal.
As per the petitioner’s request, the Court modified the impugned order to the extent of reduction of cost to Rs 15,000.
Accordingly, the petition was partly allowed.
[Ramsingbhai Dhanjibhai Prajapati v. Dahyabhai Dhanjibhai Prajapati, R/Special Civil Application No. 15942 of 2024, decided on 31-01-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Nisarg J Desai and Roma I Fidelis
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