Krishnamoorthy Rao Vs S Bhanumathi @ Lakshmi And Another: A Suit Submitted By A Minor Without Selecting A Next Friend For Guidance Is Considered To Be A Curable Error

DATE OF JUDGEMENT:
08/03/2022

BENCH:
JUSTICE A. BADHARUDHEEN

PARTIES:
PETITIONER: KRISHNA MOORTHY RAO
RESPONDENT: S. BHANUMATHI @ LAKSHI AND ANOTHER

SUBJECT

The Kerala High Court ruled on Tuesday that a lawsuit brought by a minor without an immediate friend does not have to be removed from the record because it was a curable irregularity that may be rectified by submitting the following petition.

OVERVIEW

1. The defendants in this case were a woman along with her 6-year-old adopted son, who had filed an injunction case against the plaintiff in the Munsiff Court.
2. Even though the son was a child, not a single close friend or relative was assigned to the case. Afterward, an appeal to alter the plea by naming the next friend was submitted.
3. A suit without the need for a custodian for a child, according to the Munsiff Court, was just an error that could be corrected at any time before the judgment was issued. As a result, the appeal was approved.
4. The plaintiff took his case to the High Court, expressing his dissatisfaction with the decision.
5. After reading the Order 32 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure thoroughly, Advocate B. Krishna Mani, argued for the plaintiff and maintained that it was unequivocally apparent that if a case was launched without an immediate friend, the claim must be struck off the record.
6. The plea was challenged by the defendants' counsels, Joby Cyriac and Kurian K Jose.

LEGAL PROVISIONS

Ahammed Pillai v. Subaida Beevi, Order 32 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure

ISSUES

Whether a suit submitted by a minor without having the guidance of an immediate friend a curable irregularity?

JUDGEMENT

1. The Court stated in Ahammed Pillai v. Subaida Beevi that if a child or a minor or a mentally unstable petitioner was one of the petitioners with an ultimate command appointing someone else as his next friend was completely redundant or not necessary, and all that was needed was for another person to have informed the court that he all he was doing was protecting the inept plaintiff's interests in the intervention.
2. As a result, it was determined that the judicial issue posed by the plaintiff, namely, whether a suit filed by a minor without an immediate friend was a curable irregularity and should be removed from the record, was not the law.
3. As a result, it was determined that the selection of an immediate friend after the lodging of the complaint was not illegal, and also that the general decree at issue was free of depravity, abnormality, or unfairness.
4. The appeal was thus rejected, with a directive to the Munsiff Court to resolve the case within six months.

CONCLUSION

The Kerala High Court ruled on Tuesday that a lawsuit brought by a minor without an immediate friend does not have to be removed from the record because it was a curable irregularity that may be rectified by submitting a following petition. The flaw can be remedied by submitting a fresh plea, according to Justice A. Badharudeen, and the case can then progress.

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