LATAFAT ALI KHAN Vs. MOHAMMAD YAR KHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A preliminary objection is taken to the hearing of this appeal and for the purposes of this objection only a few facts need be mentioned.

(2.) The plaintiffs instituted a suit for pre-emption of a zamindari property as well as a house. The defendants vendees were minors. A relation of theirs refused to act as their guardian, and the Court appointed Mr. Makhan Lal, a vakil of the Court, as the guardian ad item of the minors, The case was fought out and was decreed both as against part of the zamindari and a house. The guardian ad litem did not prefer any appeal from that decree; but a memorandum of appeal was filed on behalf of the minors by their father Wilayat Ali. A note was added to the memorandum of appeal to the effect that in the original suit, Babu Makhan Lal vakil was appointed the guardian ad litem of the appellants by the Court. As he is not ready to prefer this appeal, he has been included in the array of the respondents.

(3.) There was no formal application filed by the father of the appellants for the removal of the guardian ad litem and for the appointment of himself in his place. Nor does it appear that Mr. Makhan Lal appeared at the time of the hearing of the appeal. During the course of the argument a suggestion was thrown out by the advocates for the appellants that the defeat of the appeal having been preferred by a person other than the guardian ad litem might be remedied by ordering that the person through whom the appeal had been filed should be appointed guardian ad litem for the purpose of the appeal. The learned Judge thought that he had no power to do this and refused to take any such step. He dismissed the appeal as being incompetent. But to avoid any further remand he proceeded to record his opinions on the merits as well. The father of the minor defendants has now filed a second appeal and he is met by the same objection before us.