One of the examples cited as an abuse of the process of Court is re-litigation. It is contrary to justice and public policy for a party to re-litigate the same issue which has already been tried and decided earlier against him.

Recently, Messer Holdings Ltd. v. Shyam Madanmohan Ruia, [Special Leave Petition (Civil) 33429 of 2010] was considered a “classic example of the abuse of the judicial process by unscrupulous litigants with money power, all in the name of legal rights by resorting to half-truths, misleading representations and suppression of facts.” The case also served as proof of the abuse of the discretionary jurisdiction of the SC under Article 136 “by the rich and powerful”.

Bench of J. Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre, JJ thus deemed it appropriate “to impose exemplary costs quantified at Rs. 25,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Lakhs only)” to be paid by each of 3 parties concerned to National Legal Services Authority, as compensation for the loss of judicial time.