Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed a review petition filed by a government employee, terming it a clear “abuse of the process of law,” and has imposed a cost of ₹50,000 on the petitioner.
The case has a long litigation history. The petitioner had initially approached the High Court by filing a writ petition, which was dismissed. Subsequently, a writ appeal (WA No. 184 of 2025) was filed before the Division Bench, but the same was also dismissed on March 18, 2025. After failing to get relief at every stage, the petitioner filed a review petition seeking reconsideration of the earlier order.
While rejecting the review petition, the High Court observed that the petitioner was attempting to reopen issues that had already been conclusively decided. The Court held that a review petition cannot be used as a “disguised appeal” to reargue the case on merits.
The Court relied on well-settled legal principles laid down by the Supreme Court in Tungabhadra Industries Ltd. v. Government of Andhra Pradesh and Parsion Devi v. Sumitri Devi, reiterating that the scope of review is extremely limited and confined only to apparent errors on the face of the record.
The High Court also took serious note of the petitioner’s conduct in engaging different advocates at every stage of litigation. It observed that changing counsel repeatedly appeared to be a deliberate attempt to prolong the proceedings and misuse judicial time.
Taking a stern view, the Court imposed a cost of ₹50,000 on the petitioner, stating that such frivolous and repetitive litigation must be discouraged to preserve the sanctity of judicial processes.
The order serves as a strong reminder that litigants cannot endlessly pursue litigation after exhausting all legal remedies and that review jurisdiction cannot be invoked as a substitute for an appeal.