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November 2011

Suit by grandfather on behalf of minor — Next friend can be any person — Civil Procedure Code, Order 32 Rule 2.

By Dr. K. Shivaram, Ajay R. Singh, Advocates
Reading Time 1 mins
[Iqbal Ahmad Khan v. Master Mahmood Raza Khan Sherwani, AIR 201 All. 136]

The plaintiff was a minor and filed the suit through his grandfather. An application had been moved by the defendant before the Trial Court that the suit was not maintainable on the ground that it had not been filed through the next friend and, therefore, it was not maintainable under Order XXXII, Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The Court observed that the father was not alive though the mother was alive, but the suit had been filed through the grandfather. Under Order XXXII, Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the word used is ‘next friend’. The ‘next friend’ is not confined to the natural guardian only. The Patna High Court in the case of Narain Singh v. Sapurna Kuer and Ors., AIR 1968 Pat. 318 had observed that a next friend can be any person, not necessarily any of the guardians enumerated in section 4 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956. Therefore, the suit filed by the minor through grandfather cannot be said to be not maintainable.

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