• Plea filed by a woman against alleged abduction of daughter dismissed
• Single-judge bench says costs of such cases should be imposed on plaintiffs

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has observed that frivolous, vexatious and speculative lawsuits are unduly burdening courts and giving an artificial rise to pendency of cases which in turn clogs the justice system and delays the resolution of genuine disputes.

The single-judge bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan, in its order also noted that such litigation was required to be rooted out of the system and one of the ways to curb such practice of instituting frivolous and vexatious cases was imposing of costs.

The bench made such observations while dismissing a petition filed by a woman in April against alleged abduction of her daughter.

At the outset of hearing, the alleged abductee, Qaz Bano, appeared along with her children as well as husband, Imdad, and submitted that she had contracted marriage with Imdad in 2018 and had two children born in wedlock.

She also stated that no one had kidnapped or abducted her and that she had been living with her husband happily, but apprehended that there was a serious threat to her life as the brother of her husband had been murdered by her parents.

The bench in it order said, “The petition is ill motivated as well as vexatious litigation, wasting the time of court. Such frivolous, vexatious and speculative litigation unduly burdens the courts giving artificial rise to pendency of cases which in turn clogs the justice system and delays the resolution of genuine disputes.”

While suggesting imposition of costs to curb such litigations, the bench also said that the spectre of being made liable to pay actual costs should be such as to make every litigant think twice before putting forth a vexatious claim or defence before the court.

Those costs in an appropriate case could be over and above the nominal costs which included costs of the time spent by the successful party, the transportation and lodging, if any, or any other incidental cost, besides the amount of the court fee, process fee and lawyer’s fee paid in relation to the litigation, it added.

The bench further said, “Imposition of costs in frivolous and vexatious cases meets the requirement of fair trial under Article 10-A of the Constitution, as it not only discourages frivolous claims or defences brought to the court house but also absence of such cases allows more court time for the adjudication of genuine claims”.

Therefore, while dismissing the petition the bench imposed a cost of Rs1000 with direction to the lawyer for petitioner to deposit the same with the clinic of SHC.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2024