STEWART SCIENCE COLLEGE Vs. BRAJA SUNDAR DAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS revision is against an order of the learned Munsiff, 1st Court, Cuttack, by which he allowed the plaintiffs application under Order 1, Rule 8, Civil Procedure code to sue in representative capacity as one of the students of the Ste-wart science College. The learned Munsif also allowed an application on behalf of another student Bijoy Shankar Moda for being impleaded as a co-plaintiff in the suit. This arises out of a suit filed by a student against the Stewart Science college, Cuttack, its Principal, President, Secretary and the Managing Committee of the College with prayers, inter alia, for a declaralion that the plaintiff and the students of the college have a right to profess, practise and propagate their respective religion in the Stewart Science College precincts without violating the public order, morality or health and for a formal injunction restraining the defendants from interfering with the celebration of Saraswati Puja in their right of professing, practising and propagating their respective religion in the college. Two petitions were filed--one on April 24, 1964 by the plaintiff and the other on May 6, 1964 by the said Bijoy Shankar Moda--which both were heard together. The learned Munsif allowed both the petitions.

(2.) NOBODY appeared however on behalf of the plaintiff-opposite parties in spite of notice.

(3.) THE reasoning on which the learned Munsif allowed the application of the plaintiff to sue in a representative character was that the plaintiff was representing the common interest of all the students in respect of their right to profess, practise and propagate their respective religions. It however, appears that at the point of time when this petition was filed the plaintiff was no longer a student of the college he having left on taking transfer certificate as early as June 18, 1963 on which date he ceased to have any interest in the college and as such he was not in a position to (sic) the suit in a representative character. The effect of the order would be to allow such a person--who has ceased to be a student of the college-to prosecute the suit in a representative capacity on behalf of the students of the college. The petitioner can-not be said to continue to have the "same interest" as the other students of the college. It does not come within the terms of Order 1, rule 8, Civil Procedure Code. In this view of the position the order passed by the learned Munsif is illegal.