JUDGMENT
M.P. Varma, J.
1. This application in revision has been filed against an order dated 2-3-1982, passed by the Additional Subordinate Judge IInd Court at Patna in Title Suit No. 113 of 1968, by which the Court rejected the petition of the defendant-petitioners filed on 13-2-1982 for permitting them to file written statement and contest the suit after attaining majority when they could get knowledge of the suit pending in the Court.
2. The short point raised for consideration in this revision is as to whether the Court below has acted in the exercise of his jurisdiction with illegality or material irregularity while refusing the petitioners to file the written statement in the suit, who were admittedly minors when the suit was instituted, but had attained majority during its pendency. In the suit the petitioners were represented through guardian ad-litem, who had filed a written statement in the Court, which is annexure ‘1’ to this petition and which is alleged by the petitioner as of a formal nature.
3. Having heard the parties at length, I am of the view that once the petitioners have attained majority, they have a right to contest the suit in accordance with their wish and file their own written statement, which is the first step towards contest. True it is that there is no provision in the entire Civil Procedure Code in respect of a course to be adopted by a minor defendant, who attained majority during the pendency of the suit, but that omission of the provision in the Civil Procedure Code in my opinion, cannot act as a detriment to a minor in adopting a course to contest a pending suit against him. I feel that in absence of any prohibition, it will be presumed that on attaining majority during the pendency of the suit, the minor shall have all the rights of an ordinary defendant, which includes the right to contest the suit by filing written statement after ignoring all those actions that were taken in the suit on his behalf during the interregnum, i. e. between the date of the filing of the suit and the date of his attaining majority if he feels that the guardian ad-litem did not advance his true cause as has been pleaded in this case, the Counsel for the petitioners, while drawing my attention to annexure ‘I’ has submitted that a written statement of a most formal nature was filed on behalf of a minor defendant without safeguarding their interest. Having been sued as minors initially whether under the guardianship or a guardian ad litem or even natural guardian, the petitioners, on attaining majority, in my opinion, have a right in law to ignore any person looking to their interest and take up the field of contest themselves. If they so felt and chose to contest independently, the law cannot prohibit them from entering into the field of contest on any other ground whatsoever. Learned Counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the guardian ad-litem, who was representing the other minor defendants as well, as many as 15 of them including these petitioners filed only one written statement of a very formal nature on behalf of all the 15 including these petitioners. It has also been alleged that the guardian ad-litem appointed by the Court fell in collusion with the plaintiffs and it was rather a case in which there was no proper representation to which the interest of the minors. In a suit, the Court has to determine the rights of the parties by permitting the parties to contest the same in their best interest undefined by any consideration and I have already said that the law would not feter the rights of these defendants If they wish to contest the suit on attaining majority and in fact, they have arrived to the conclusion in their own interest and they are within their rights to file their own written statement for their cause.
4. In the circumstances referred to above, I am of the view that the Court has acted in exercise of his jurisdiction illegally and with material irregularities by refusing the prayer of the petitioners to file their own written statement on the ground unknown to law.
5. In the result the application succeeds. The order impugned is set aside with a direction to the Court to permit the petitioner to file their , written statement and to proceed with the suit thereafter in accordance with law. This is an old suit and therefore, it is expected that the Court will take all steps to dispose of the suit expeditiously. Let the records be sent down immediately.
No order for costs.
