In a classic case of abuse of PIL process, a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the tender process of the Railways saw filing of 35 applications and recusal by 28 judges.
The High Court has, however, dismissed the plea and imposed a cost of Rs.2 lakh on the woman petitioner.
The repeated litigation irked the court as it made “wild and reckless allegations against all and sundry, including the judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court”.
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The plea challenged the tender process for setting up manufacturing units for diesel and electric locomotive.
During the hearing, the Railways’ counsel also objected to her using the court to defame the then Railway Minister. The petitioner was seeking relief on a 2010 tender process, and threat to her life.
“The petitioner, in the guise of making allegations of threat to human life, has in fact caused misery, harassment and turmoil to innumerable number of people, including her neighbours, Delhi Police, doctors and even advocates of this Court,” the Bench comprising Justices Valmiki J. Mehta and P.S. Teji noted.
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The Centre, at the outset, informed the court that the tender process stands cancelled, rendering the petition infructuous, even many dates were then fixed for the hearing “because petitioner did not want that proceedings in this petition should come to an end.”
A Bench noted in their 100-page judgment that the conduct of the petitioner before various Benches included making scandalous and contemptuous utterances.
Various Bench had passed orders noting her misdemeanour and allegations, which were figment of her imagination.
“This writ petition is a totally frivolous and a mala fide petition, and it is also an abuse of the process of the law. The present writ petition was never a genuine PIL... By the time the judgment in the case was reserved vide order dated February 3, 2015, volumes of the writ petition had reached to number 35 ending at page No. 12,440. Whenever the writ petition came up before any Bench, the standard operating procedure of the petitioner was for some totally uncalled for reason or the other to cause recusal of the judges constituting the Bench by expressing lack of confidence in the Bench or making false allegations against the judges constituting the Bench or creating scenes in Courts, and which modalities were adapted even before this Bench, and which had to conclude the hearings by passing a judicial order for reserving the judgment in this case,” the court said.
The High Court dismissed the plea and imposed a cost of Rs.2 lakh on the woman petitioner