Unlike Criminal Proceedings, Action For Malicious Prosecution Generally Doesn't Lie Against Civil Proceedings: JKL High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh High Court has said that unlike in the cases of malicious prosecution relating to criminal proceedings no action can be brought as a general rule in the cases of civil proceedings even though the same are malicious and have been brought without any reasonable cause.

"It is only in exceptional circumstances that a suit for damages on account of malicious prosecution in civil proceedings can be maintained,"Justice Sanjay Dhar added.

The Single bench was dealing with an appeal seeking compensation for malicious prosecution.

The bench noted that the very first suit for recovery was filed by the Appellant herein and that the defendant did not initiate the prosecution. The defendant had only preferred appeals and revision petitions against the award granted in favour of the Appellant herein in the recovery suit.

In this backdrop the High Court said that in order to succeed in a case for recovery of damages for malicious prosecution, it has to be first shown that it is the defendant who has initiated the prosecution. In the instant case, admittedly, the litigation was initiated by the plaintiff and not by the defendant.

The Bench further held that the Appellant failed to show that the litigation was resorted to by the defendant without any reasonable cause. "In the instant case, once an award was passed against the defendant, he had no choice but to challenge the same by way of appropriate proceedings. Therefore, it cannot be stated even on the basis of the admitted facts that the defendant had filed these proceedings without any reasonable cause."

Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.