HC imposes cost of Rs 40 lakh for filing "sponsored" petition

The Bombay High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 40 lakh on ten persons for filing a seemingly "sponsored" petition against allotment of a 23-acre plot in suburban Versova to a cooperative society for development.
The order was passed by Justice Gautam Patel last week while dismissing the petition filed by Ashok Kulkarni and nine others opposing development on a sprawling piece of land by Samarth Development Corporation and Apna Ghar Society.
The judge directed Kulkarni and others to pay Rs 40 lakh to the developers who said they had to spend a lot of money to defend themselves in the court.

However, the High Court stayed its own order and asked the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) not to hand over the land to the Society till November 14 so that the petitioners could file an appeal.
"Everything points to this being a sponsored litigation, with Kulkarni having lent his name to some other entity. On his account alone, huge amounts had to be spent in defending this and associated litigations," the court noted.
"The litigation is one I have found to be without the faintest glimmer of merit. It is precisely the kind of litigation -- speculative, lacking in bonafides, sponsored, an abuse of process of law and of the court and perhaps even a fraud on the court -- that our Supreme Court has repeatedly decried and deprecated, even said should be visited with exemplary and penal costs," Justice Patel said.