Rajasthan HC slaps Rs 10 lakh penalty on ICICI Lombard for abusing legal process by impleading Judges

The Rajasthan High Court recently hauled up ICICI Lombard Insurance (ICICI) for impleading several judges of District Judges Cadre as parties to a petition initiated by them, in an apparent attempt to influence compensation cases pending before the judges..In a writ petition filed before Rajasthan High Court, ICICI had impleaded Compensation Commissioners posted in Rajasthan at various districts. The Court was informed that the Compensation Commissioners so impleaded even included a judge who had been elevated as a High Court judge. Further, it was submitted that such impleadment was made without making any specific allegation against individual persons..On being confronted with these submissions, the counsel for ICICI prayed for the leave of the Court to withdraw the petition. However, Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma refused to allow the withdrawal, given that such a request was only preferred after the Court took notice of the wrongdoing..Taking a serious view of ICICI’s apparent attempt to browbeat Compensation Commissioners in compensation cases pending before them, the Court observed,.“This court finds that the writ petition has been preferred by the ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company by naming all the Compensation Commissioners posted in Rajasthan at various districts. Having filed such a writ petition, the petitioner Company would not raise a reasonable excuse before the concerned Compensation Commissioners not to hear cases in relation to grant of compensation against their Company and would thus be browbeating and wrongfully influencing the employees [and] Compensation Commissioners posted at various districts. .Thus the forum of preferring writ petition before this court has been seriously misused and abused by the petitioners. The process of dispensation of justice has been effected and, therefore, this court does not allow the petitioner to withdraw the writ petition after the notice being already issued by this Court.”.Justice Sharma proceeded to dismiss the petition while directing ICICI to deposit a penalty amount of Rs 10 lakhs with the Legal Services Authority within a month for abusing the legal process..“…I hold the action of the petitioner Company is amounting to abuse of process of law and accordingly dismiss the writ petition by imposing penal rose of Rs 10.0 lac in the petitioner Company with the direction to deposit the same with the Legal Services Authority within a period of one month, failing which the same shall be recoverable as arrears of Land Revenue. “.Read the Order below..Image courtesy: Livemint