SC imposes Rs 25K costs for filing 60-page synopsis against a 5-page HC order

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal ordered the petitioner to pay costs of Rs.25,000 by way of a donation to any institution carrying out charitable work.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has imposed a costs of Rs 25,000 on a litigant seeking permission to file a voluminous synopsis of more than 60 pages against a 5-page order of the Allahabad High Court.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal ordered the petitioner to pay costs of Rs.25,000 by way of a donation to any institution carrying out charitable work. The petitioner filed an application against the High Court order rejecting anticipatory bail, seeking permission to file a lengthy synopsis and list of dates.

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The Supreme Court noted that more than 60 pages synopsis was “uncalled for” in the facts of the case when the impugned HC order ran merely into 5 pages.

“Therefore, we reject the application and while we do so, we direct the petitioner to pay costs of Rs.25,000 by way of a donation to any institution carrying out charitable work. A receipt be produced before the next date of hearing,” it ordered.

Earlier in August, the same bench had stressed that bulky synopsis in the pleadings filed before the top court ought to be avoided after it noticed that there were more than 60 pages of synopsis and 27 pages in the special leave petition filed against an impugned order of the High Court running only into six pages.