Failing to appear after cases were listed before vacation bench: High Court upholds fine

KOCHI: The High Court Division Bench has clarified that the penalty for abstention cannot be waived after the sub-petitions were listed in the vacation bench. The Christmas vacation bench had ordered a fine of Rs 10,000 each in four sub-petitions filed by journalist MR Ajayan through Advocate VR Manoranjan. The review petition filed by the petitioner seeking waiver of the fine was dismissed by the division bench comprising Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian. The court also gave a verbal warning that the fine will not be limited to ten thousand if the petition is filed again.

The petition seeking a CBI probe into the Sabarimala gold theft, the allegations of monthly payments against the Chief Minister's daughter, the Paliyekkara toll case, and another case related to the Travancore Devaswom Board were listed. The division bench stated that the action of abstaining from the case after the application was filed for secondary consideration was malicious. The fine was imposed after it was realised that the petitioner and the lawyer in all these cases were the same person.