The Allahabad High Court was disconsolated during course of a hearing about the degrading of value system, as it commented that Litigants today would go to any extent to mislead the Court.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice J. J. Munir noted how respect for truth is eroding while imposing cost on one PIL petitioner who sought action againt two persons alleging that they had embezzled the money of the Government meant for the development of Gram Panchayat.
When the Court was informed by the Counsel for Respondent that the petitioner had earlier sought the same relief in other petition and that the factum of filing of the said writ has not been disclosed by him, his Counsel in response sought permission to withdraw the PIL.
To this, the Court noted that the issue regarding approaching the Court by concealing the facts has been examined by the Supreme Court on number of occasions and that the same is polluting the stream of justice.
It referred to slew of Court precedents on the issue including Abhyudya Sanstha Vs. Union of India & Ors, 2011 Latest Caselaw 412 SC , Hari Narain Vs. Badri Das, 1963 Latest Caselaw 46 SC, G. Narayanaswamy Reddy & ANR Vs. Govt. of Karnataka & ANR, 1991 Latest Caselaw 119 SC, Moti Lal Songara Vs. Prem Prakash @ Pappu and ANR, 2013 Latest Caselaw 393 SC, Amar Singh Vs. Union of India and others , 2011 Latest Caselaw 396 SC, Kishore Samrite Vs. State of U.P. & Ors., 2012 Latest Caselaw 606 SC,
The Court commented that in all the above cases, the value of truth hs been upholded as one of the two cherished basic values by Indian society for centuries is “satya” (truth).
Stating that the petitioner put the same under the carpet in the present case, it noted:
"Truth constituted an integral part of the justice-delivery system in the preIndependence era, however, post-Independence period has seen drastic changes in our value system. The materialism has overshadowed the old ethos and the quest for personal gain has become so intense that those involved in litigation do not hesitate to take shelter of falsehood, misrepresentation and suppression of facts in the court proceedings. In the last 40 years, the values have gone down and now a litigants can go to any extent to mislead the court. They have no respect for the truth. The principle has been evolved to meet the challenge posed by this new breed of litigants."
The Court reiterated that it is well settled that a litigant, who attempts to pollute the stream of justice or who touches the pure fountain of justice with tainted hands, is not entitled to any relief, interim or final.
Citing the maxim supressio veri, expression faisi, i.e. suppression of the truth is equivalent to the expression of falsehood, the Court said that suppression of material facts from the court of law, is actually playing fraud with the court.
The PIL was thus dismissed with a cost of ₹50,000/-.
Case title - Ram Prasad Rajouriya Vs. State Of U.P. and others
Case Details- PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. 433 of 2022
Coram- Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice J. J. Munir
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