The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on a landlady and her legal heirs for engaging in a vexatious litigation since 2001 to evict a tenant inUttar Pradesh.

A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar passed the order while dismissing the appeal filed by one of the co-landlords challenging Allahabad High Court’s decision to impose a fine of ₹20,000 on the appellant who had sought eviction of the tenant on the ground that the premises were required for their personal use.

The high court had taken strong exception to the conduct of the petitioner and said that despite the dismissal of the writ petition on December 5, 2012, the petitioner tried to obtain further orders based on an interim order fromSeptember 22, 2006, which was vacated when the petition was dismissed.

“It is necessary to observe that the proceedings in the court of law are initiated for adjudication of disputes and to provide justice to the parties, by which trust and confidence of the litigants reposed on this great institution can be maintained. In case one of the parties misuses the said process or attempts to obtain an order by trick and stratagem, the courts would be justified in imposing the costs for igniting such vexatious litigation,” the apex court said in its order.

It said the cost imposed by the high court was “meagre” and deserved to be increased to ₹50,000 as the petitioner “has proceeded to pursue his vexatious claim even before this court”.

“Said costs shall be deposited before the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority, Allahabad,” the apex court said.