BASUDHANAND PANDEY Vs. VIDYANAND PANDEY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD .

(2.) THIS case is a peculiar case. A Partition Suit was filed. Petitioner, before this Court, was arrayed as a defendant alongwith his brother Vidyanand Pandey. It appears sometime thereafter an application under Order 1 Rule 10 was filed on behalf of the petitioner and the said Vidyanand Pandey for being transposed as plaintiff. This was allowed. It appears that the suit proceeded. Witnesses were examined and at the stage of hearing, an application is now filed by the petitioner, who is shown as plaintiff No. 4 on being transposed from defendant, that in fact he had never appeared as a defendant in the suit. He had never authorised any lawyer to appear on his behalf. In fact, he was not aware of the suit till recently and all his signatures, verifications, vakalatnama are forged. He, accordingly, prayed that he should be relegated to the position of a defendant and be permitted to file his written -statement and examine, re -examine, cross examine witnesses. This application was rejected by the trial Court. Merely on the ground that it has been eighteen years since institution of the suit. This petitioner had made an application for being transposed as a plaintiff. Witnesses having been examined by all parties, it would not be proper to allow the petitioner to be relegated as a defendant.

(3.) IN that view of the matter, the impugned order is set aside and the Court is directed to proceed in accordance with the directions and observations made above.