Indigent person
Order 33 under the Code of Criminal Procedure (herein referred to as CPC) deals with suits filed by ‘indigent persons’. An indigent person is defined in explanation one to Rule 1 according to which is a person is an ‘indigent’ person or forma pauperis–
- On the off chance that he isn’t equipped with adequate methods (other than property excluded from the connection in the execution of a decree and the topic of the suit) to empower him to pay the fee endorsed by law for the plaint in such suit, or
- Where no such fee is endorsed, on the off chance that he isn’t qualified for property worth one thousand rupees other than the property excluded from the connection in the execution of a declaration, and the topic of the suit.
What should be the content of the application that has got to be adopted during a suit by an indigent person?
As per Order 33 Rule 2, every application for permission to sue as an indigent person should contain the subsequent particulars:
- The particulars required regarding plaints to suits;
- A schedule of any movable or immovable property belonging to the applicant with the estimated value thereof; and
- Signature and verification as provided in Order 6 Rules 14 and 15.
On what grounds can court reject the appliance for permission to sue as an indigent person?
As per Order 33 Rule 5, the court may reject an application for permission to sue as an indigent person within the following cases:
- Where the application is not framed and presented in a prescribed manner; or
- Where the applicant is not an indigent person; or
- Where the applicant has, within two months before the presentation of the application, disposed of any property fraudulently or to get permission to sue as an indigent person; or
- Where there is no cause of action; or
- Which another person has obtained an interest in a suit in which the applicant has entered into an agreement keeping in mind the subject-matter of the suit; or
- Where the suit appears to be barred by law; or
- Where any other person has agreed with the applicant to finance the costs of the litigation.
- When permission is granted: Rules 8-9A
- Where an application to sue as an indigent person is in all actuality allowed, it will be considered to be a plaint in the suit and will continue conventionally, except that the plaintiff will not have to pay court fees or process fees.
Interpleader Suits
Section-88 defines interpleader suits under CPC. “To interplead” means “to litigate with one another to settle some extent concerning a 3rd party.” Meaning thereby, an ‘interpleader suit’ maybe a suit during which the important dispute is not between the plaintiffs and defendants but between the defendants only and the plaintiff is not interested in the subject-matter of the suit. Provided that where any suit is pending during which the rights of all parties can properly be decided, no such suit of interpleader shall be instituted.
The conditions relating to Interpleader suit
Following conditions must be fulfilled to initiate an interpleader suit:
- There must be some obligation, sum of money or other property movable or immovable in dispute;
- At least two people must guarantee it unfavourably to each other;
- The individual from whom such obligation, cash or property is guaranteed, must not be asserting any premium in that other than the charges and expenses and he should be prepared to pay or convey it to the legitimate petitioner; and
- There must be no suit pending in which the privileges of the opponent petitioners can be appropriately chosen.
The test to determine the institution of interpleader suits
To work out whether a suit is an interpleader suit under the section the Court must have reference to all the prayers within the plaint. The mere incontrovertible fact that the plaintiff requires the defendants to interplead as regards one among the reliefs claimed wouldn’t necessarily make it an interpleader suit.
This blog is written by Amrit Rathi, Jindal Global Law School
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