The Delhi High Court has come down heavily on a litigant for abusing its process under the pretext of challenging illegal constructions in the city, imposing a cost of ₹10 lakh for attempts to extort money through frivolous petitions.
Justice Mini Pushkarna, while passing the order on August 7, expressed shock at the conduct of petitioner Anil Lodhi, General Secretary of the Azad Market Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), who was found to have repeatedly filed cases with ulterior motives. The court observed that while it dealt with unauthorised construction matters “strictly with an iron hand,” it was equally necessary to ensure that judicial proceedings were not weaponised for unlawful gains.
The bench noted that Lodhi, along with advocate Babu Lal Gupta, was involved in filing multiple petitions against alleged illegal constructions through an unregistered NGO named Green Gold Earth of World. Significantly, the address of the NGO was found to be the lawyer’s chamber allotted to Gupta.
“The petitioner has been approaching private respondents for the purpose of extorting money. These facts are alarming and shocking, which disclose the deplorable conduct of the petitioner in filing cases for extorting money from people, by misusing and abusing the process of this court,” Justice Pushkarna said.
The court directed that its order be tagged with all future petitions filed either by Lodhi or by the NGO affiliated to him, so that his past conduct could be considered in subsequent proceedings.
The court further referred the name of advocate Gupta to the Bar Council of Delhi to examine his conduct and determine whether his involvement violated any professional rules or ethical standards.
The petitions in question, filed by Lodhi on behalf of Azad Market RWA, sought action against alleged illegal constructions in shops at Roshanara Road and Rani Jhansi Road, Jhandewalan, including misuse of electricity and water. The court recorded that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had already initiated necessary action and directed the civic body to ensure any remaining illegality was addressed in a time-bound manner.
The High Court observed that the alleged encroachments were not even in the vicinity of Lodhi’s neighbourhood, strengthening the finding that the litigation was motivated by oblique purposes rather than genuine public interest. Referring to Lodhi’s repeated attempts in the past, including those filed through the NGO, the court concluded that he had moved the court with “unclean hands.”
Calling judicial proceedings a “solemn process” meant to further justice, the court warned that such misuse undermines the integrity of the institution. Lodhi was directed to deposit the ₹10 lakh cost within six weeks.
