Srinagar- Litigant cannot be allowed to play ‘hide and seek’, the High Court of J&K and Ladakh observed on Friday as it allowed an appeal against its single bench’s order in 2016 by virtue of which it had directed a woman police constable to resume her duty and asked authorities to pass orders for release of some monetary benefits in her favour for the period she remained out of service.
“A writ remedy is an equitable one. While exercising extraordinary power, a Writ Court certainly bears in mind the conduct of the party, who invokes the jurisdiction of the Court. Litigant before the Writ Court must come with clean hands, clean heart, clean mind and clean objective,” a division bench of Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice M. A. Chowdhary said while allowing the government’s appeal.
“He/she should disclose all facts without suppressing anything. Litigant cannot be allowed to play ‘hide and seek’ or to ‘pick and choose’ the facts he/she likes to disclose and to suppress/conceal other facts,” the court said. Suppression of concealment of material facts is not an advocacy, the court said.
“It is a jugglery, manipulation, maneuvering or misrepresentation, which has no place in equitable and prerogative jurisdiction,” the court said, adding, “If a litigant does not disclose all the material facts fairly and truly or states them in a distorted manner and misleads the Court, the Court has inherent power to refuse to proceed further with the examination of the case on merits.”
If the Court does not reject the petition on that ground, the Court would be failing in its duty, the Division Bench said.
“There is a compelling need to take a serious view in such matters to ensure purity and grace in the administration of justice.”
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