BABU Vs. BANUMATHY MENON

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant is the applicant in an application for permission to file the suit as an indigent person. The Trial Court dismissed the application finding that there is no bona fides in the application and that he is misusing the provision in Order XXXIII, Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure which is intended only to genuine cases of indigent persons.

(2.) The suit is for specific performance of an oral agreement for sale of 5 cents of land and building admittedly owned by the defendant. When the defendant sent notice for eviction of the plaintiff from the building the present suit was filed with the following allegations. The defendant agreed to sell the plaint schedule property for a consideration of Rs. 2,25,000/- on 8.2.1997 and an amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- was paid on the same day. The document was to be executed on or before 30.1.2000. Possession was also given to the plaintiff on the date of agreement. The plaintiff reconstructed the two rooms in the plaint schedule property. The plaintiff was always ready and willing to pay the balance sale consideration and to get the deed registered. But on request of the defendant the plaintiff paid an amount of Rs. 50,000/- on 10.1.2000 and the date for execution of document was extended upto 20.8.2002. After preparing the balance sale consideration, the plaintiff approached the defendant to execute the sale deed and he is still prepared to pay the balance sale consideration. The plaintiff filed the suit after paying l/10th of the court fee payable. Subsequently, he filed the application for permission to sue as an indigent person with regard to the balance court fee which comes to Rs. 13,893/-.

(3.) In the application for permission the averments are different. In the application, he has stated that he is a tailor by profession and there is no income from his business. It was as helped by his relatives that he entered into the agreement for purchase of the property. They are not in a position to help the plaintiff at present. Except the property shown in the schedule of the petition, he has no other asset. The value of the entire assets as shown in the schedule is only Rs. 810/-.