Summary
The Supreme Court condemned forum hunting where accused persons, after failing to obtain interim protection in criminal quashing proceedings, filed a civil writ seeking consolidation of eight FIRs and obtained a no-coercive-action order. The civil writ was dismissed for abuse of process, the interim protection consequently fell, and costs were imposed. The conduct was directed to be placed before the benches hearing the criminal petitions.
Issues
- Whether a civil writ could be used to obtain criminal interim protection outside the assigned roster.
- What consequences followed the forum hunting and abuse of process.
Held
- Filing the civil writ to circumvent the criminal roster and obtain protection in respect of eight FIRs constituted gross abuse of process and forum hunting. (¶¶ 3–8, 11(a))
- Judges must follow the Chief Justice’s roster or a specific assignment. The civil writ should have been converted into a criminal writ and placed before the appropriate roster judge. (¶ 8)
- The respondents’ conduct must be brought to the attention of the courts hearing their Section 482 petitions. The decision did not determine the merits of the underlying FIRs. (¶¶ 9, 11(d)–(e))
Result
Appeal allowed and civil writ dismissed; its interim order ceased to survive. Respondents 2–4 directed to pay Rs 50,000 to the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority within one month and file receipt within six weeks. Copy to be placed in all eight criminal quashing petitions.