Recently, in a scathing order denouncing misuse of judicial process, a Delhi court has dismissed Advocate Mehmood Pracha’s plea seeking to declare the Supreme Court’s 2019 Ayodhya judgment “null and void”, terming it a “frivolous and luxurious litigation” and an “abuse of the process of law.” District Judge Dharmender Rana not only upheld the Rs. 1 lakh penalty earlier imposed by the civil court but also enhanced it by Rs. 5 lakh, observing that a strong deterrent was necessary to prevent the “menace of luxurious and frivolous litigation.”
The case arose from a plea filed by Advocate Mehmood Pracha, who sought to reopen the Supreme Court’s 2019 Ayodhya verdict, the unanimous judgment that had awarded the disputed site to Ram Lalla Virajman for the construction of a temple, while directing the allotment of five acres of land in Ayodhya to the Muslim community for a mosque.
Advocate Pracha contended that the judgment was rendered void after former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud allegedly remarked at a public event that the decision reflected a “solution provided by Bhagwan Shri Ram Lalla Virajman.” He alleged that this statement constituted fraud on the court and sought a fresh adjudication of the Ayodhya dispute.
Rejecting the plea in unequivocal terms, Judge Rana held that the contention was legally untenable and motivated. The Court observed, “Seeking guidance from the almighty cannot be berated as a fraudulent act to gain unfair advantage, either in law or in any religion.”
Drawing from both Hindu and Islamic texts, the Court noted that the expression “Aham Brahma Asmi” embodies unity with the divine and added that “even the Quran allows devotees to seek guidance from Allah.”
The Court went on to remark that Pracha’s decision to implead the former CJI “soon after his retirement” betrayed an “oblique intent.” Judge Rana noted that the advocate had “challenged the verdict without even bothering to go through it” and lacked locus standi since he was never a party to the original Ayodhya litigation.
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