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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has imposed a cost of Rs. 50,000 on a petitioner for suppressing facts from the court

“For suppressing the factum of filing an application seeking the relief i.e. possession of the premises, we deem it appropriate in the peculiar facts, to impose costs of Rs.50,000/- on the petitioner. The petitioner has not approached the Court with clean hands,” the order reads.

The division bench of the high court, comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice PK Chavan, was hearing a petition filed by Pravin Ramji Rathod, seeking directions for the removal of the seal from a rented house.

The counsel appearing for the 84 and 74-year-old landlords submitted that the petitioner is a licensee whose term ended on 31st March 2021. He argued that the petitioner is refusing to vacate the premises and is harassing the landlords.

He also informed the bench that a suit for eviction of the petitioner was filed in the small causes court by the landlords.

The Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that the police were constrained to take steps under Section 164 of ‘The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023’ (‘BNSS’), considering that there was a quarrel between the petitioner and one of the landlords before the premises in question was sealed.

She further added that the petitioner was threatening the police that he would commit suicide, and keeping in mind the prevailing situation, steps under Section 164 of the BNSS were taken.

The counsel appearing for the landlords submitted that the petitioner had already filed an application seeking a restraining order against the landlord before the small causes court, which was suppressed from the high court.

Accordingly, the bench dismissed the application and imposed a cost of Rs. 50,000 on the petitioner and directed him to pay the cost to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa Advocate Aid.

Case title: Pravin Ramji Rathod vs State of Maharashtra & Ors