MAYFAIR KNITTING INDUSTRIES LTD Vs. SANUJA MOIDEEN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A company formerly named Mayfair Knitting Industries ltd. and presently named " Mayfair (Bombay )Ltd. " represented by its power-of-attorney holder Sri. T. P. Gopinath is the revision petitioner. Copy of the power-of-attorney and certified copy of the Board Resolution dated 16. 10. 2000 will convince anybody that the Company presently known as " Mayfair (Bombay)Ltd. " came to be rechristened as such in place of its original name "mayfair Knitting Industries Ltd. " and that the said company has duly authorised Sri. T. P. Gopinath to represent the company. The revision petitioner is aggrieved by the order passed by the trial court dismissing I. A. 2606 of 2000, an application filed under O. I, R. 10 CPC for striking out the name "mayfair Knitting Industries Ltd. " and substitute the same with the present name of the company " Mayfair (Bombay)Ltd. " in the cause title.

(2.) I have gone through the impugned order. Technically, the learned Subordinate Judge had some justification for dismissing the application. But I cannot approve of the observation of the learned Subordinate judge that since the original Director, the actual signatory to the plaint, died on 27. 3. 1998 and "no impleadment to substitute the Director or to represent the company in any matter has been made within the period of limitation, the suit must be obviously found as abated. The company is of course a legal person represented in this case by one of its Directors. If the director dies, the company does not die. It is only the person who represents the company dies. At best, it can be said that an application for substitution of the name of the person who represented the company by the name of somebody who is competent to represent the company now is necessary. The situation may be one which obtains under O. XXII, R. 10 and not one which comes under O. XXII, r. 3. If the situation is taken as one coming under O. XXII R. 10, ie. , the interest to represent the company devolves upon another Director in place of the former Director who is no more, the question of abatement of the suit due to non-impleadment does not arise. But the revision petitioner's position is that the situation which applies is one under O. I R. 10 whereunder the court has ample power to strike out wrong names and substitute the same with correct names. It appears to me that the decision of the Supreme Court in Bal Niketan nursery School v. Kesari Prasad (AIR 1987 SC 1970) was not cited before the court below.