Orissa High Court imposes Rs 50,000 fine on petitioner for filing ‘frivolous petition’

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on one Biswajit Pattanaik “for masquerading as an RTI activist/social activist” and filing “a frivolous petition” seeking intervention against alleged police inaction in registering his complaint.

While imposing the penalty Justice S K Panigrahi said the petitioner has deliberately tried to consume the time of court with a vested interest which has stopped the court from delivering justice to legitimate petitioners whose rights have actually been violated.“The petitioner can be classified as meddlesome interloper,” Justice Panigrahi said.

While imposing a cost of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner, Justice Panigrahi said it would act as a deterrent measure to discourage such frivolous petitions and not to repeat such type of misadventure in future. The cost shall be deposited before the Orissa High Court Bar Association Welfare Fund within two weeks, the judge said on disposing of the petition.

According to the order, the petitioner had filed the FIR alleging certain irregularities against a reader in Zoology department in AD Mahavidyalaya, Brahmagiri, Puri at the Brahmagiri police station. The department of Higher Education had initiated an inquiry into the matter and the regional director had already conducted an inquiry and rendered the findings and submitted the same before the appropriate authority.

Justice Panigrahi observed that “the petitioner, who is masquerading himself as an RTI activist/social activist, has no business to file the FIR especially when the government is looking into the issue raised by him. He has still shown over alacrity by filing a complaint before the police which was not accepted by the police.”