Summary
Plaintiffs suing for declaration of title and recovery of possession applied to sue as indigent persons under Order 33 CPC. The trial court rejected the application, and the Madras High Court affirmed, holding that the suit was barred by res judicata and an abuse of process. The Supreme Court agreed that such an application may be rejected under Order 33 Rule 5(d) and (f) where the plaint, prima facie, shows no cause of action or a legal bar (Kamu alias Kamala Ammal). But Rules 15 and 15A let the court give the applicant time to pay court fee, and the suit is then deemed instituted on the date of the application. As the plaintiffs agreed to pay, it granted four weeks. It confined the findings on res judicata to the indigency application and left the defendants free to seek rejection of the plaint under Order 7 Rule 11.
Issues
- Whether an application to sue as an indigent person can be rejected on the ground that the suit discloses no cause of action and is barred by res judicata, and what follows on rejection.
Provisions considered
- Order XXXIII, Rule 5(d) and (f), Code of Civil Procedure, 1908An application to sue as an indigent person must be rejected where the allegations show no cause of action or show that the suit would be barred by law; the trial court committed no error in rejecting it on that prima facie view. (¶¶ 6.1, 6.4, 6.5)
- Order XXXIII, Rules 15 and 15A, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908On rejection the applicant may sue in the ordinary manner, and the court may grant time to pay court fee and costs, upon which the suit is deemed instituted on the date the indigency application was presented. (¶¶ 6.3, 6.6)
- Order VII, Rule 11, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908Left open to the defendants to seek rejection of the plaint, to be decided uninfluenced by the observations made on the indigency application. (¶ 6.6)
Held
- Under Order 33 Rule 5 CPC, as held in Kamu alias Kamala Ammal, an application to sue as an indigent person must be rejected where the plaint discloses no cause of action or is barred by law; having prima facie so found, the trial court did not err. (¶¶ 6.4, 6.5)
- Even on rejection, Rules 15 and 15A allow time to pay court fee with the suit relating back to the date of the application; as the appellants agreed to pay, four weeks are granted, and the findings on res judicata and cause of action are confined to the indigency application. (¶ 6.6)
Result
Civil Appeal No. 8885 of 2022 disposed of; the appellants granted four weeks to pay the requisite court fee, on which the suit is deemed instituted on the date of the I.O.P. No. 1 of 2015 application, with the defendants free to apply under Order VII Rule 11 CPC; no costs.