Himachal Pradesh High Court Dismisses Petition Seeking Impleadment in Representative Suit

In a recent judgment, the Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed a petition challenging the rejection of applications seeking impleadment in a representative suit. The court, in its ruling, stated that a single petition cannot be maintained when multiple applications for impleadment have been disposed of by a common order. The judgment, delivered by Justice Satyen Vaidya, emphasized the binding effect of a suit's decree on all parties concerned.

Quoting from the judgment, Justice Satyen Vaidya stated, "The petitioners had filed applications for their impleadment as plaintiffs. They had not raised any grievance that the plaintiffs in the suit were not proceeding with due diligence in the suit and required substitution. The case of petitioners was that they had the same interest in the subject matter of the suit as was claimed by the plaintiffs, hence they were also required to be impleaded as plaintiffs. [...] In such view of the matter, their impleadment as plaintiffs is not warranted."

The petitioners had contended that their impleadment in the civil suit was permissible as their interest aligned with that of the plaintiffs, and granting their plea would not prejudice anyone. However, the court found no illegality or impropriety in the impugned order and maintained that the suit, filed in a representative capacity, would benefit the petitioners even without their impleadment.

The judgment further highlighted that the decree passed in the representative suit would be binding on all individuals on whose behalf or for whose benefit the suit was instituted. As the petitioners claimed the same interest in the suit as the existing plaintiffs, their impleadment was deemed unnecessary.

The court, therefore, dismissed the petition and any pending applications related to the matter.

Date of Decision: 13th June 2023

Himanshu Kumar and others vs Jay Prakash Bhojaki