VRINDA ANAND Vs. ARUN ANAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Mrs. Vrinda Anand has put up this petition under 0. XXXIII R. 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (in short Code) for permission of the Court to file a suit as an indigent person against the defendants for the return of her 'Stridhan' properties detailed in Schedules 'A' and 'B' annexed to the petition or in the alternative for the recovery of a sum of Rs. 2,39,157.00 being the value of her entire 'Stridhan'. She asserts herself to be an indigent person not in a position to pay the requisite court-fees. The petition is resisted by the respondents.

(2.) Respondent No. 1 is the husband of the petitioner whereas respondents 2 and 3 are the parents of respondent No. 1. In Schedule "A' of the petition there is mention of five "7-Year National Savings Certificates" in the sum of Rs. 1,000.00 each with a maturity value of Rs. 10,000.00. These certificates bear numbers 364930 to 364934. At the time of filing of this petition these certificates were the subject-matter of the suit. During the course of evidence on this petition the petitioner came into the witness box as Public Witness1 and during her cross-examination the respondents offered/ tendered to the petitioner these five certificates, but the petitioner refused to receive the same. These certificates are marked 'A-1' to 'A-5'. The only question which falls for determination in deciding this petition is whether these five certificates can be taken into consideration or not for deciding the question whether the petitioner is an indigent person or not. O. XXXIII R. 1 of the Code reads as follows :

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner has contended that as these certificates are an item of the subject-matter of the suit the same cannot be taken into consideration as the means possessed by the petitioner for determining whether she is an indigent person, whereas on the other hand the learned counsel for the respondents relying upon Explanation II of R. 1 of O. XXXIII has pointed out that these five certificates are a property acquired by the petitioner after the presentation of the aforesaid petition for permission to sue as an indigent person but before the decision of that petition and has necessarily to be taken into account in considering the question "whether or not the petitioner is an indigent person. These certificates are in the name of the petitioner and had been offered/tendered to her during her cross-examination during the pendency of this petition by the respondents and even though that offer/tender was declined by the petitioner, the same is tantamount to putting these certificates in the possession of the petitioner and the petitioner is deemed to have acquired the same during the pendency of this petition and this has the effect of taking away these certificates from the purview of the subject-matter of the suit, and reading together Explanations I and II of R. 1 of O. XXXIII of the Code the result is that after having been taken out from the subject-matter of the suit these certificates shall be deemed to have been acquired by the petitioner during the pendency of this petition and so shall be taken into account in considering the question whether she is an indigent person or not.