Gujarat High Court Imposes Rs. 20 Lakh In Costs Upon Litigant Accused Of Blackmailing & Extorting Money From Businessmen

The Court dismissed a PIL filed by a self-acclaimed ‘RTI activist’ who alleged that, inspite of having made several representations about the alleged illegal constructions before the authorities concerned, when nothing was done, he was constrained to file the Petition.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi held that “The fact that the petitioner has been caught in one case of blackmailing in a sting operation, is sufficient to show him the exit doors of the Court, inasmuch as such an unscrupulous person cannot be permitted to misuse the process of this Court.”

Advocate Dipesh V Dalal appeared for the Applicant, while Senior Advocate R.S. Sanjanwala represented the Opponents.

Brief Facts

The PIL was filed by the Petitioner seeking the removal or demolition of alleged illegal and unauthorised constructions by the Respondents. The Petitioner claimed to be a local resident and a "whistle blower" who had exposed corruption scandals in the past.

Court’s Reasoning

The High Court remarked, “The present public interest litigation seems to have been filed with ulterior motive for personal gain by making allegations of illegal constructions against the respondent society. The fact that the petitioner’s credentials are found to be highly doubtful, the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioner on the question of locus standi of the present petitioner to maintain the petition for making an inquiry into the nature of constructions raised by the respondent society are liable to be rejected.”

The Bench noted, “From the facts brought on record by the respondent Nos. 10 and 11, against whom the complaint is made in the petition, it is evident that the petitioner is blackmailing and is trying to extort money from the businessmen of the Surat city by creating fear in their mind that if they do not shell money, he would make a complaint of violation of one or the other laws. The present public interest litigation seems to have been filed with ulterior motive for personal gain by making allegations of illegal constructions against the respondent society.”

The Court stated, “Considering the facts of the present case, wherein the petitioner who claims to be a businessman in the original petition and has projected himself a public spirited person, has been caught red-handed for blackmailing another business man in the Surat city in order to extort money.”

Consequently, the Court ordered, “In view of the above discussion, the present petition filed in the nature of public interest litigation is liable to be dismissed outrightly with the exemplary cost of Rs. 20,00,000/- (20 Lakhs), which shall be deposited by the petitioner within a period of two months from today. We order accordingly.”

Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the Petition.

Cause Title: Ajay Rameshbhai Trivedi v. State Of Gujarat & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:GUJHC:26020-DB)

Appearance:

Applicant: Advocates Dipesh V Dalal, G K Vaghani and K T Beladiya

Opponents: Senior Advocate R.S. Sanjanwala; Assistant Government Pleader Hetal Patel; Advocate Digant M Popat, Aadit R Sanjanwala

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