The Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on May 19 said that he will not permit ‘forum shopping’. The CJI made this remark to a litigant appearing before him, who sought a hearing, however, he (the litigant) mentioned the same case a day ago before Justice KM Joseph.
Key points
- When litigants or lawyers attempt to deliberately move their case to a particular judge or Court where they think the judgment could be more favourable, they are said to be “forum shopping.”
- Lawyers think about which is the right forum to approach as part of their litigation strategy.
- For example, one could directly approach the Supreme Court via a public interest litigation case instead of the concerned High Court because the issue could get more eyeballs.
- The Supreme Court in its 1988 ruling in ‘Chetak Construction Ltd. vs. Om Prakash’ said, “A litigant cannot be permitted choice of the forum,” and that every attempt at forum shopping must be crushed with a heavy hand.
