Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 381
Power to order costs
Any Court dealing with an application made to it for filing a complaint under section 379 or an appeal under section 380, shall have power to make such order as to costs as may be just.
Why this exists
Legal proceedings, even ancillary ones like applications and appeals connected to a complaint of court-related offences, involve expense. Giving the court discretion to award costs discourages frivolous or vexatious applications and appeals, while allowing genuine grievances to be pursued without automatically bearing the other side's costs.