Rs 1 lakh cost on frivolous plea

CHENNAI: A cost of Rs 1 lakh was imposed on Dr S Viswa Murti, founder chairman of Awareness on Anti-Corruption and Crime in Adambakkam, for filing a frivolous quo-warranto writ petition questioning under what authority V K Singh is holding the post  of Chief of Army Staff, thereby wasting the valuable time of the court, on Monday.“The petitioner has not approached this court with clean hands and with bona fide intentions, which is clear from his attitude of requesting the court to permit him to withdraw the plea,” a division bench comprising justices E D Rao and M Venu­gopal observed on Monday.The petition also prayed for a direction to the Union Defence Ministry to strip the rank of Singh, dismiss him from service and stop his pay benefits and pension. When the Bench posed a specific question to the petitioner’s counsel with regard to the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court in the matter of quo-warranto and to state the reason and necessity for issuance of quo-warranto, when admittedly the matter has been entrusted to the CBI for inqiry, he was unable to answer.However, counsel at the last moment prayed for withdrawal of the petition, on which arguments were advanced by both the parties for the past two days. He did not understand the nature and concept of quo-warranto, the Bench noted and imposed the cost.The amount should be paid to the Madras Society for Protection of Children in Old Washermanpet within two weeks, the Bench said.