TMI Blog1972 (7) TMI 105X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m the respondent for proving that the respondent is not a. pauper. The Court passed an order on February 23, 1970, directing the respondent to discover on affidavit the documents relating to the bank accounts of the respondent, namely, pass books cheque books, counterfoils, etc., from March 1, 1963, to the date of filing the affidavit of discovery, as also the documents in respect of the properties held by him and the personal accounts maintained by him. The respondent was to file the affidavit of discovery on March 8, 1970. It was specifically stated that no extension of time will be allowed for filing the affidavit and that the discovery should be made within the time. The respondent did not file the affidavit in pursuance to the order. On March 31, 1970, he moved an application stating. that he, wants to file a revision against the order dated February 23, 1970, before the High Court and that two months' time may be allowed for the purpose. The Court rejected the application for time on April 4, 1970, on the ground that the application for permission to sue in forma pauperis was pending for the last seven years and that the respondent had ample time for filing the revision i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r discovery of documents is not permissible in proceedings under Order 33 and that it is not salutary to adopt the procedure even if permissible. In Vijay Pratap Singh v. Dukh Haran Nath Singh and another(1), this Court has held that the suit commences from the moment an application for permission to sue in forma pauperis as required by Order 33 is presented. If that be so, the provisions of rule 12 of Order 11 relating to discovery would in terms apply to proceedings under Order 33. There is also no reason why, if the provisions of Order 1, rule 10 relating to additions of parties, of Order 9 dealing with appearance of parties and consequence of non- appearance, and of Order 39 relating to temporary injunctions would apply to proceeding under Order 33, the provisions in Order 11 dealing with dis- covery of documents should not apply to, such proceedings. In England, discovery is ordered in any 'pause' or 'matter' in the Supreme Court to which the rules of the Supreme Court apply. And 'cause' includes any action, suit or other original proceeding between a plaintiff and defendant. Generally speaking, discovery is granted there in all proceedings except pur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er relating to the matter in question in the proceedings. And as to the documents which are not, but have been in his possession or power, he must state what has become of them and in whose possession they are, in order that the opposite party may be enabled to get production from the persons who have posses- sion of them (see form No. 5 in Appendix C of the Civil Pro- cedure Code). After he has disclosed the documents by the affidavit, he may be required to produce for inspection such of the documents as he is in possession of and as are relevant. The High Court was equally wrong in thinking lb-at in pass- ing the order for discovery, the trial Court acted illegally in the exercise of its jurisdiction as it deprived the respondent of his right to claim privilege for non- production of his pass book and personal accounts, because the stage for claiming privilege had not yet been reached. That would be reached only when the affidavit of discovery is made. Order 11, rule 13 provides that every affidavit of documents should specify which of the documents therein set forth the party objects to produce for inspection of the opposite party together with the grounds of objection.. N ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nterested ? To what purpose does Order 33, Rule 6 confer the right on the opposite party to participate in the enquiry into the pauperism and adduce evidence to establish that the applicant is' not a pauper unless the opposite party is interested in the question and entitled to avail himself of all the normal procedure to establish it ? We can think of no reason why if the procedure for discovery is applicable to proceeding under Order 33, the appellant should not be entitled to avail himself of it. We also do not think that there is any point in the criticism of the High Court that the order for discovery was vague. The first item in the order was in respect of the documents relating to the bank accounts of the respondent from March 1, 1963, to the date of the affidavit. The second item related to documents in respect of the immovable properties held by him during the same period and the third item was in respect of documents relating to the personal accounts maintained by him for the same period. The order was as specific as it could be. Counsel for the appellant contended that even if the order for discovery of documents was bad in law, the High Court was not justified ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 64 S.C. 1336.) and Vora Abbashhai Ali- mahomed v. Haji Gulamnabi Haji Safibhai A.I.R. 1964 S.C. 1341. has held that a distinction must be drawn between the errors committed by sub-ordinate courts in deciding questions of law which have relation to, or are concerned with, questions of jurisdiction of the said Court, and errors of law which have no such relation or connection. In Pandurang Dhoni Chougute v. Maruti Hari Jadhav([1956] 1 S.C.R. 102.), this Court said : The provisions of s. 115 of the 'Code have been examined by judicial decisions on several occasions. While ex ercising its jurisdiction under S. 115, it is not competent to the High Court to correct errors of fact however gross they may be, or even errors of law, unless the said errors have relation to the jurisdiction of the Court to try the dispute itself. As clauses (a), (b) and (c) of s. 15 indicate, it is only in cases where the subordinate Court has exercised a jurisdiction not vested in it by law, or has failed, to exercise a jurisdiction so vested, or has acted in the exercise of its jurisdiction illegally or with material irregularity that the revisional jurisdiction of the High Court can be properly invo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e case, Lord Pearce said Lack of jurisdiction may arise in various ways. There may be an absence of those formalities or. things which are conditions precedent to the tribunal having any jurisdiction to embark on an,enquiry. Or the tribunal may at the end make an order that it has no jurisdiction to make. Or, in the intervening stage while engaged on a proper enquiry, the tribunal may depart from the rules of natural justice; or it may ask itself the wrong questions; or it may take into account matters which it was not directed to take into account.Thereby it would step outside its jurisdiction. It would turn its inquiry into something not directed by Parliament and fail to make the inquiry which the Parliament did direct. Any of these things would cause its purported decision to be a nullity. The dicta of the majority of the House of Lords in the above case would show the extent to which `lack' and 'excess' of jurisdiction have been assimilated or, in other words, the extent to which we have moved away from the traditional concept of jurisdiction . The effect of the dicta in that case is to reduce the difference 'between jurisdictional error and error of law ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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