Whether court can impose minimal costs or even waive costs if cheque dishonour case is compounded?
Having regard thereto, we are of the opinion that even when a
case is decided in Lok Adalat, the requirement of following the
guidelines contained in Damodar S. Prabhu (supra) should
normally not be dispensed with.
However, if there is a
special/specific reason to deviate therefrom, the Court is not
remediless as Damodar S. Prabhu (supra) itself has given
discretion to the concerned Court to reduce the costs with regard
to specific facts and circumstances of the case, while recording
reasons in writing about such variance.
Therefore, in those
matters where the case has to be decided/settled in the Lok
Adalat, if the Court finds that it is a result of positive attitude of the
parties, in such appropriate cases, the Court can always reduce
the costs by imposing minimal costs or even waive the same. For
that, it would be for the parties, particularly the accused person, to
make out a plausible case for the waiver/reduction of costs and to
convince the concerned Court about the same. This course of
action, according to us, would strike a balance between the two
competing but equally important interests, namely, achieving the
objectives delineated in Damodar S. Prabhu (supra) on the one
hand and the public interest which is sought to be achieved by
encouraging settlements/resolution of case through Lok Adalats.
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 8614 OF 2014
(arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 38519 of 2012)
MADHYA PRADESH STATE LEGAL
SERVICES AUTHORITY
VERSUS
PRATEEK JAIN & ANR.
Dated;SEPTEMBER 10, 2014.
A.K. SIKRI, J.
https://www.lawweb.in/2014/09/whether-court-can-impose-minimal-costs.html
