'Cheating Qua Client & Court': Allahabad HC Deplores Lawyer, Petitioners Over Successive Pleas Challenging Same FIR, Imposes ₹50K Cost

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday expressed great displeasure and rebuked a lawyer for filing a criminal writ plea (challenging an FIR) just 5 days after a plea against the same FIR had been dismissed by the HC.

Calling the conduct of the petitioner as well as counsel as ‘highly deplorable’, the bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi and Justice Vivek Kumar Singh imposed a cost of Rs. 50K on the petitioners.

“It is cheating qua the client as well as the Court. It is established that without taking leave from the Court, no second writ petition could be filed but the petitioner has got an audacity to file successive writ petition for the same cause of action,” the Court remarked while condemning the filing of the second petition for the same cause.

Essentially, the matter came to light on Monday (September 18) when the Court was dealing with a writ plea challenging an FIR, as the bench noted that the same petitioner had filed a plea on an earlier occasion challenging the same FIR lodged against the petitioners under sections 363 and 366 IPC.

The Court then called for the record of the previous writ plea and the order in this regard was passed in the presence of the counsel for the petitioners, however, when the case was called out on Tuesday, the said counsel did not remain present.

Noting that the counsel of the petitioners was avoiding the court proceeding, the Court went ahead to decide the petition with the help of the AGA.

Significantly, in its order, the Court noted that both the petitions were against the same FIR and the instant petition was presented for reporting on September 13, whereas the earlier writ petition was rejected on September 6.

Observing that the instant fresh plea was prepared and filed within the next five days of the dismissal of the previous plea, the Court condemned the act of the counsel as well as the petitioners and stressed that it deserved to be dealt with an iron hand.

Consequently, the Court rejected the petition with the exemplary cost of Rs. 50K upon the petitioners directing them to get the amount deposited by the 10th of October, 2023 before the Registrar General of this Court. Failing which, the Court ordered, the District Magistrate Kasganj to recover the amount by way of 'land revenue' and get the same recovered from the petitioner and get the amount deposited in the Allahabad High Court Legal Services Committee by October 30.