Rahul Gandhi case: Allahabad high court slaps Rs50 lakh penalty on petitioner

In a path-breaking judgment that could serve as a warning to those filing frivolous public interest litigations (PILs), Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court slapped on Monday a penalty of a whopping Rs50 lakh on a petitioner who had filed a petition against Rahul Gandhi.

The bench found the writ of habeas corpus absolutely baseless and ordered that out of the penalty Rs20 lakh be paid to the Congress leader as damages, Rs25 lakh to the family on whose behalf the petition had been filed, and Rs5 lakh to UP police chief Karamveer Singh as an appreciation for prompt action in bringing the “missing” family before the court.

The petitioner, former Samajwadi party MLA of Madhya Pradesh Kishore Samreete, has been asked to deposit the fine within a month.

The ex-MLA had filed a writ of habeas corpus alleging that a girl along with two members of her family from Amethi had gone missing after meeting Rahul on March 4, 2007. Samreete had alleged the family had been held under duress.

The girl and her family, however, told the court that they had never been kept under duress and that they had not authorised anyone to represent them in the court.

The court has ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter.