Prosecution, Legal Departments Must Exercise Due Diligence Before Initiating Cases: Delhi High Court On Frivolous Litigation

The Delhi High Court has observed that the prosecution and Delhi Government's Department of Law & Legislative Affairs must exercise due diligence before initiating cases and that legal process must not be misused through frivolous litigation.

Justice Amit Mahajan said that filing of frivolous cases has a spiral effect on other litigations which are waiting for their turn to be heard before the Courts.

The Court observed that filing of frivolous cases has a far-reaching and detrimental impact on the legal system. It not only clogs the Courts with unnecessary litigation but also delays the hearing of genuine cases that are patiently awaiting their turn to be addressed, it added.

“Such delays undermine the efficiency of the judiciary, causing distress to litigants. Therefore, it is imperative that the prosecution and legal departments exercise due diligence before initiating cases, in order to preserve the integrity of the judicial process and ensure timely justice for those with legitimate grievances,” Justice Mahajan said.

The Court made the observations while dismissing a plea moved by the prosecution seeking leave to appeal against the trial court judgment convicting a man in a rape case in 2019. The incident happened in 2011.

Justice Mahajan observed that the prosecution allegations were sought to be proved only on the basis of statement of the prosecutrix which was not corroborated by any other independent evidence.

The Court noted that the Additional Public Prosecutor before the trial court had initially opined that the case was not suitable for appeal to the High Court and the Director of Prosecution also shared the same view.

However, it appears that the Department of Law & Legislative Affairs later proposed filing an appeal, it said.

While the Court found no flaws in the impugned judgment, it was unable to understand the reasoning behind the Department of Law & Legislative Affairs recommending an appeal in the case.

“Although the present case clearly qualifies as one where costs should be imposed on the prosecution for filing a frivolous appeal, this Court has chosen to refrain from passing such an order with a direction to the Department of Law & Legislative Affairs to exercise greater vigilance and sensitivity in deciding which cases to prosecute,” the Court concluded.

Title: STATE v. MANPAL & ORS

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 1120

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