The SC on Tuesday issued to NGO Suraz India Trust for not having deposited the cost of Rs 25 lakh in view of the observations made in its order dated May 1, 2017. Justices S.K. Kaul and Hirishikesh Roy also required the disclosure of all movable and immovable assets of the original petitioner so that the costs can be recovered.
For wasting judicial time, the SC had in May 2017 imposed an exemplary cost of Rs. 25 lakh on NGO Suraz India Trust for filing 64 cases in various HC and also in the apex court. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar had also restrained the trust and its chairman Rajiv Dahiya from filing any case, including PIL, in any court.
Directing Dahiya to deposit the amount with a months’ time, the bench took it seriously the manner in which Dahiya had even ventured to the residence of SC judges, including that of the CJI, leveling various allegations against the SC registry staff.
To stop this practice it is directed that Suraz India Trust will not file any case. Rajiv Dahiya was restrained from filing any public cause directly or indirectly. The bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud and Justice SK Kaul, passed the order after hearing the matter for more than three hours.
The bench took note of all the 64 cases filed by Suraz Trust in which Dahiya ha leveled accusations against judges in the name of public cause, but not in a single case. Earlier, the SC had suggested Dahiya to give an undertaking to court not to file any case in court. However, Dahiya requested the court to make him as amicus.
After hearing the arguments, the bench found him to be unqualified to pursue the case as an amicus. Narrating the sequence of events and all cases filed by the trust since 2010, the CJI directed the courts not to entertain the cases.
