Kaliammal, minor by Guardian, Patta Goundan vs Ramaswami Goundan and Others

Rajagopalan, J.—The maternal uncle of the minor purporting to act as her next friend sought permission to institute a suit in forma pauperis

against the father of the minor among others for the minor''s maintenance. The application for permission to sue in forma pauperis was refused

virtually on the sole ground, that as the minor''s father and mother were alive the maternal uncle was not the minor''s guardian at law. That order the

petitioner seeks to set aside in revision.

A perusal of the provisions of Order 32, Rule 3, Clauses 1 and 2, should have convinced the learned District Munsiff that the competence of a

next friend of a minor instituting a suit could not be the subject-matter of investigation either at the stage of granting leave to sue in forma pauperis

or for the matter of that at any other stage of the suit. The next friend as such does not need to ask for sanction of the Court to recognise him as the

next friend of the minor if he is not in-capacitated in any of the ways indicated in Order 32, Rule 3, Clause 1, Civil Procedure Code. The next

friend has a right to institute a suit and maintain that suit on behalf of the minor.

The order of the lower Court is set aside and the petition remanded for disposal afresh after considering the questions that properly arise for

determination on the application for permission to sue in forma pauperis.

The respondents will pay the costs of this petition in this Court to the petitioner.