Question

Under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, where a suit is instituted against a person who is subsequently found to have been wrongly impleaded as a defendant, the court may:

• A. Direct the plaintiff to institute a fresh suit.
• B. Permit substitution or addition of the proper defendant.
• C. Return the plaint on the ground of mis-joinder of parties.
• D. Dismiss the suit as not maintainable.

Hint:

Order I Rule 10 is the "Correction Tool." If you sue the wrong person, the Court doesn't throw out the suit; it lets you swap or add the correct party!

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Order I, Rule 10 of the CPC, 1908, provides the court with the power to correct errors in the parties to a suit to ensure that the real question in controversy can be effectively determined.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
- Under Order I, Rule 10(2), the Court may, at any stage of the proceedings, either upon or without the application of either party, order that the name of any party improperly joined, whether as plaintiff or defendant, be struck out, and the name of any person who ought to have been joined, or whose presence before the Court is necessary, be added.
- This ensures that a suit does not fail merely due to a "mis-joinder" or "non-joinder" of parties.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The court's power is to permit substitution or addition to fix the parties. Option (B) is correct.

Answer 2

Order I, Rule 10 of the CPC, 1908 gives the court power to correct errors in the array of parties, and the question asks what the court may do when a person is found to have been wrongly impleaded as defendant.

1. Option (A) - Direct the plaintiff to institute a fresh suit: Forcing a completely new suit would be an unnecessarily harsh and inefficient response when the same defect can be cured within the existing proceedings under Order I, Rule 10.
2. Option (B) - Permit substitution or addition of the proper defendant: Order I, Rule 10(2) specifically empowers the court, at any stage of the proceedings, to strike out the name of a wrongly joined party and add the name of a person who ought to have been joined, so that the real question in controversy can be effectively decided. This is exactly the power the question is describing.
3. Option (C) - Return the plaint on the ground of mis-joinder of parties: Returning the plaint is not the remedy the CPC provides for mere mis-joinder of parties; instead, the Code specifically allows correction of the party array within the same suit rather than sending the plaintiff away to refile.
4. Option (D) - Dismiss the suit as not maintainable: A suit is not liable to be dismissed merely because of a mis-joinder or non-joinder of parties, since Order I, Rule 10 exists precisely to prevent that harsh outcome by allowing correction instead.

Only the substitution-or-addition remedy in Order I, Rule 10(2) matches how the CPC actually deals with a wrongly impleaded defendant.

Hence, the correct answer is Permit substitution or addition of the proper defendant.