Politics · India Bureau
Madras HC penalises lawyer for frivolous plea on bypoll expenses
The Madras High Court has imposed a ₹1 lakh cost on a lawyer for filing a case seeking recovery of bypoll expenses from resigned MLAs, finding the petition was motivated by publicity rather than merit.
LSN India ·
A bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan imposed the financial penalty while dismissing the plea, observing that an identical case had been rejected on substantive grounds just a week earlier. The court found no legitimate basis for the fresh filing and viewed it as an attempt to generate public attention rather than pursue a genuine legal grievance. The judges expressed concern over the misuse of judicial process and cautioned against filing repetitive petitions without material changes to the underlying circumstances. Such conduct wastes court time and diverts resources from genuine cases awaiting adjudication, the bench noted. The imposition of cost is aimed at discouraging frivolous litigation and ensuring that the courts are approached with bona fide legal concerns rather than for purposes of publicity or harassment.