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SC out to rein in vexatious litigations

Source: , Posted On:   28 February 2021

SC out to rein in vexatious litigations
SC out to rein in vexatious litigations

Of late, there has been a significant spurt in frivolous and vexatious litigations mostly filed by the politically motivated parties and others intending to avenge a perceived wrong against their opponents. Though happily most of such frivolous or vexatious litigations end up in dismissal or withdrawal, by the time they reach their pinnacle they already have left their adverse impact on the victims of such litigations besides having wasted precious time of the court.

In the Civil Procedure Code (C.P.C), the law has granted inherent power to the court to see that frivolous or vexatious litigations are not allowed under Order 7 Rule 11. This particular rule states that the plaint 'shall be rejected' if it does not disclose a cause of action, the claim is undervalued and plaintiff does not correct the valuation within a time fixed by the court, the plaint is written on paper insufficiently stamped, the suit is barred by any law, copies of the suit papers not filed in duplicate and the plaintiff fails to comply with the provisions of Rule 9 which deals with serving of copies on defendants.

In a recent judgment, a division bench of Supreme Court of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Hemant Gupta has observed that the provisions of Order VII Rule 11 are not exhaustive and the Court has the inherent power to see that frivolous or vexatious litigations are not allowed to consume the time of the Court.

'In any case, an application under Order VII Rule 11 of the C.P.C for rejection of the plaint requires a meaningful reading of the plaint as a whole', the Court held and added, '…clever drafting creating illusions of cause of action are not permitted in law and a clear right to sue should be shown in the plaint'.

https://www.thehansindia.com/hans/opinion/news-analysis/sc-out-to-rein-in-vexatious-litigations-674575

 

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