𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐒𝐂

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐒𝐂

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Honorable Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, has given a detailed judgment in the review jurisdiction wherein the Court found the review application mere repetition of  the same submissions which were previously made in the original judgment. The Court referred to Order XXVI, Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules and Order XLVII of the CPC and stated that these provisions unequivocally elaborate the grounds of review. Any review filed beyond these grounds are not maintainable and cost shall be imposed on such a frivolous litigation.

The Court when found the review filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government frivolous turned to the significance of imposition of cost and held that imposition of cost can help minimize the backlog of cases of the courts as frivolous litigation which parties file to harass each other or gain any other benefit will end with cost. And once the menace of frivolous litigation ends, the backlog of the cases will minimize automatically. This will save the limited resources of the courts and more time for meritorious  and genuine cases  can be saved.

To highlight the significance of the cost further, the Court quoted Justice Bowen who once remarked “I have found in my experience that there is one panacea which heals every sore in litigation and that is costs.” The Court in this judgment devoted a significant portion to highlight the importance of cost and urged the courts to actualize it and impose cost when necessary.

Honorable Justice Shah stated that legal framework for imposition of cost is either rooted in statutes or rules. For example, Section 35 of the CPC empowers the civil courts to impose cost on frivolous litigation. A similar provision is available in the Supreme Court Rules which empowers the Supreme Court to impose cost. But the Cost of Litigation Act 2017 which is only applicable to the Islamabad only is a unique legislation which brings the litigation cost out of the discretion of the courts and makes it mandatory for the courts to award cost to the wining party. It has made Islamabad the loser-pay-all jurisdiction. The Court declared this legislation a model legislation for all other provinces.

The Court then turns to expound the term ‘frivolous suit/litigation’ stating that though there is no universal definition of this term but certain parameters exist which can tell us which suit is frivolous and which is not. For example, (i) conduct of parties: if a party unnecessarily floods the court with application after application, this will amount to frivolous litigation, (ii) margin of success: if it seems from the very outset of the case that the case have limited chances to succeed, (iii) falsehood or fraud: when the parties commit fraud or fabricate evidence, (iv) violation of court process: whether the parties have complied with the court orders and followed the procedure. These and certain other things can be treated as parameters to check whether a suit is frivolous or not.

Once the suit is found frivolous there should be not hurdle for the court to impose reasonable cost. The Court at the end declared the review meritless and frivolous and imposed cost of Rupees 100000.

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