Bad Faith: How Is Malafide Proved?

The meaning of the term malafide is bad faith, deceptive intention or dishonest motive. It is the fraudulent deception of another person, or the intentional refusal to perform a particular act or contractual obligation. The intentional or malicious violation of rights of a person is an exhibition of bad faith.

The term malafide is commonly used in laws of contracts and other commercial transactions. The claims made by a person in a lawsuit can be nullified or minimized by the existence of bad faith. The malafide use of power is considered equivalent to abuse of power.

However, when an act of malafide takes place, the liability to prove it rests on the person who makes the allegation. It may be quite difficult for a person to prove it as the Court insists on high degree of evidence.

Bad Faith: A Case Study on Malafide

In the landmark case of Rowjee v. State of A.P, Citation A.I.R. (1964) S.C. 962, the complainant, a civil surgeon with the Andhra Government, filed a complaint stating that the leaves pertaining to his retirement which were initially approved were revoked later on and he was suspended. The complainant was charged with an offence of taking a bribe of Rs.16 from patients during his service as a civil surgeon and a disciplinary action was taken against him. Finally, he was dismissed from the service. The complainant, however, alleged that the disciplinary action was taken against him on the directions of the Chief Minister, because he had not given into the unfair demands of the Chief Minister and his family members. There was lack of direct evidence to prove malafide. However, after reviewing the whole situation and based on the circumstances of the case, the Court upheld an act of malafide.