When is a plaintiff dispaupered?

Question: When is a plaintiff dispaupered?

Find the answer only on Legal Bites. [When is a plaintiff dispaupered?]

Answer

Order XXXIII, Rule 9, of the Civil Procedure Code, which provides for dispaupering the plaintiff in the circumstances stated therein. The Court can pass an order dispaupering the plaintiff:

• if the plaintiff is guilty of vexatious or improper conduct in the Course of the suit;
• if it appears that his means are such that he ought not to continue to sue as a pauper, or
• if he has entered into any agreement with reference to the subject matter of the suit under which any person has obtained an interest in such subject matter.

There can be no doubt that all these circumstances are personal to the plaintiff. However, as held in the case of Smt. Kalawati Devi v. Chandra Prakash And Ors [AIR 1959 All 37] a plaintiff is dispaupered not only when becomes into means to pay the necessary court fee or when he enters into an agreement with reference to the subject matter of the suit under which any other person has obtained an interest in such subject-matter but also when his conduct in the course of the suit is considered by the court to be vexatious or improper.

The relevant legal provisions from Order XXXIII are mentioned below:

Rule 9 is:

“The Court may, on the application of the defendant, or of the Government pleader, of which seven days’ clear notice in writing has boon given to the plaintiff, order the plaintiff to be dispaupered:

• If he is guilty of vexatious or improper conduct in the course of the suit;
• if it appears that his means are such that he ought not to continue to sue as a pauper; or
• if he has entered into any agreement with reference to the subject matter of the suit under which any other person has obtained an interest in such subject matter.

Rule 11 is :

“Where the plaintiff fails in the suit or is dispaupered, or where the suit is withdrawn or dismissed, because the summons for the defendant to appear and answer has not been served upon him in consequence of the failure of the plaintiff to pay the court fee or postal charges (if any) chargeable for such service, or because the plaintiff does not appear when the suit is called on for hearing, the Court shall order the plaintiff, or any person added as a co-plaintiff to the suit, to pay the court-fees which would have been paid by the plaintiff if he had not been permitted to sue as a pauper.”

---

Important Mains Questions Series for Judiciary, APO & University Exams

• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – I of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – II of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – III of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – IV of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – V of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – VI of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – VII of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – VIII of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – IX of X
• CPC Mains Questions Series: Important Questions Part – X of X