Full disclosure in writ petitions is mandatory; suppression of prior proceedings can bar discretionary relief and justify dismissal.

Writ relief under Article 226 is discretionary and depends on full and frank disclosure of all material facts. Where petitioners suppressed prior writ proceedings and a writ appeal involving the same controversy, the Court treated the non-disclosure as abuse of process and fraud on the Court. Because the later petitions relied on an earlier order obtained without disclosure of the complete litigation history, equitable relief was refused and the writ petitions were dismissed with costs. The governing principle is that suppression or lack of candour disentitles a litigant to discretionary writ relief.

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Issues: Whether the petitioners were entitled to writ relief under Article 226 despite suppression of prior proceedings and material facts, and whether discretionary relief should be denied on the ground of abuse of process and fraud on the Court.

Analysis: Writ jurisdiction is discretionary and requires full and frank disclosure of all material facts. The petitioner had already litigated the same controversy in earlier writ proceedings and a writ appeal, but those proceedings were not disclosed in the later petitions. The later petitions were built upon an earlier order obtained without disclosure of the complete litigation history. The Court treated this as a serious suppression of material facts and an abuse of the process of Court, justifying refusal of relief without extending equitable assistance.

Conclusion: The petitioners were not entitled to any relief, and the writ petitions were dismissed.

Final Conclusion: Discretionary writ relief was refused because the petitioner had approached the Court without candour and had obtained earlier orders by suppression of material facts, warranting dismissal with costs.

Ratio Decidendi: A litigant invoking Article 226 must make a full and true disclosure of all material facts, and suppression or fraud disentitles the litigant to discretionary writ relief.

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